TAMPA, Fla. - City of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor responded to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier after he sent a letter regarding the Tampa Police Department's so-called 'sanctuary policies."
What we know:
In her response, Mayor Jane Castor wrote that there is now a revised policy removing language of concern. She also mentioned they will publish and distribute the updated policy to their officers immediately.
She also said, "The City of Tampa has no intention of violating state or federal law. We will continue to use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law, as well as state law."
The backstory:
On March 11, the attorney general sent a letter to the mayor claiming that the police department illegally restricts how officers cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
His biggest issue was that he says the department isn't disclosing immigration backgrounds for witnesses and victims. In the letter he said, "TPD ostensibly supports these policies because they do not want ‘illegal aliens’ to be concerned with immigration consequences by cooperating with law enforcement."
He said the law is clear and that sanctuary policies are prohibited in Florida, and he wants Castor to reverse the policies by March 31.
If the policies aren't reversed, Uthmeier said it would "risk the enforcement of all applicable civil penalties," which would include removing Castor from her office as Tampa's mayor.
Dig deeper:
In the original policy, it is written as follows:
Officers are not required to share information with federal immigration authorities regarding victims or witnesses of crime, nor shall they inquire into or investigate the immigration status of cooperative victims, witnesses, or individuals requesting police services. These restrictions are intended to foster and preserve trust between the department and immigrant communities, ensuring that individuals feel safe reporting crimes, seeking assistance, and cooperating with law enforcement without fear of reprisal or immigration-related consequences. C. Restrictions on Immigration Enforcement Activities: 1. Officers are prohibited from engaging in broad-based immigration enforcement actions (e.g. workplace enforcement operations, traffic checkpoints, area saturation sweeps).
The new policy is written like this:
Pursuant to Florida Statute 908.104 (7), an officer is not required to provide a federal immigration agency with information related to a victim of or a witness to a criminal offense if: (a) the victim or witness is necessary to the investigation or prosecution of a crime, and such crime occurred in the United States; and (b) the victim or witness timely and in good faith responds to the entity's or agency's request for information and cooperates in the investigation or prosecution of such offense. 2. Florida Statute 908.104 (9) does not authorize a law enforcement agency to detain an alien unlawfully present in the United States pursuant to an immigration detainer solely because the alien witnessed or reported a crime or was a victim of a criminal offense.
Big picture view:
The Tampa Police Department told FOX 13 on Wednesday that there are six officers and two supervisors from the department who are part of the 287(g) program.
READ: Neighbors urge St. Pete leaders to end police cooperation agreement with ICE
287(g) programs are mandatory for all 67 Florida county jails and correctional facilities under state law.
However, they are not mandatory for city-level police departments. But, they are strongly encouraged.
The Source: FOX 13 gathered this information from the letter sent from the mayor's office as well as prior reporting.