The Department of Justice has informed Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez that Miami-Dade County is in compliance with federal immigration law and, thus, eligible for $480,000 in grant funding for law-enforcement operations in the county.
In fact, following President Donald Trump’s election, Gimenez reversed a 2013 county policy and ordered jails to comply with federal law by cooperating with federal immigration officers in the cases of detained illegal aliens facing deportation proceedings, the Miami Herald reported.
“Miami-Dade is the only large jurisdiction known to have made that kind of change, which the County Commission endorsed in February,” the Herald reported, which noted that Gimenez was “Cuban-born.”
.@MayorGimenez sent this memo to @MiamiDadeBCC re: @TheJusticeDept determining @MiamiDadeCounty complies w/Sec 1373& is eligible 4 Byrne JAG pic.twitter.com/LQKRUws3kp
— Mike Hernández (@HernandezMA5) August 5, 2017
“This is good news,” Michael Hernández, Gimenez’s communications director, said of the DOJ letter.
In contrast to Gimenez, Former Obama chief of staff and now Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel announced on Sunday that the city of Chicago is suing the federal government for seeking to enforce immigration laws, including cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement officials.
“The federal lawsuit comes less than two weeks after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the U.S. Justice Department would bar cities from a certain grant program unless they allow immigration authorities unlimited access to local jails and provide 48 hours’ notice before releasing anyone wanted for immigration violations,” Reuters reported.
On Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions responded to the lawsuit by recommitting his agency to “the rule of law.”
“This administration is committed to the rule of law and to enforcing the laws established by Congress,” Sessions said in a statement on the Chicago lawsuit. “To a degree perhaps unsurpassed by any other jurisdiction, the political leadership of Chicago has chosen deliberately and intentionally to adopt a policy that obstructs this country’s lawful immigration system.
“This administration will not simply give away grant dollars to city governments that proudly violate the rule of law and protect criminal aliens at the expense of public safety,” Sessions said.
“So it’s this simple: Comply with the law or forego taxpayer dollars,” Sessions said.
The Trump administration’s proposed budget requests $380 million in police-related grant funding for 2018, with Chicago slated to receive $3.2 million for equipment for law enforcement operations, Reuters reported.
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