Judge bashes Miami-Dade for helping federal immigration agents
MIAMI — A judge on Friday rebuked Miami-Dade County's decision to fully comply with federal immigration authorities following threats by President Trump to withhold funds for "sanctuary cities" that provide havens for undocumented immigrants.
Florida Circuit Court Judge Milton Hirsch ruled that the county should not have jailed a Haitian national who was being detained solely for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. In a strongly worded, 15-page order, Hirsch said the county violated the 10th Amendment of the Constitution by detaining the man based only on ICE's interest in investigating his immigration status.
Hirsch wrote that local jail officials were acting as "appendages of ICE" and that the county was serving as a "handmaiden to the federal government" despite the limitations established in the 10th Amendment, which restricts the power of the federal government over states.
"No doubt the limitations imposed by the 10th Amendment, like so many limitations imposed by the Constitution, are a source of frustration to those who dream of wielding power in unprecedented ways or to unprecedented degrees," Hirsch wrote. "But America was not made for those who dream of power. America was made for those with the power to dream.”
The ruling only applied to the one detainee and does not stop the county from cooperating with federal immigration authorities on other cases.
Miami-Dade County spokesman Michael Hernandez said the county was planning an immediate appeal, but said the lawsuit should not be handled in circuit courts. He called the legal challenge "a federal issue which should be handled in federal court." ICE said that it does not comment on pending litigation.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez threw the county into the federal immigration debate when he became the first in the nation to give in to Trump's threats against "sanctuary cities."
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Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 25 to withhold federal grants from jurisdictions that don't comply with federal immigration authorities. That is a broad term that describes more than 300 city, county and state governments with policies that limit how much local authorities will cooperate with ICE.
The next day, Gimenez issued a directive to the head of his jail to begin honoring all "detainers" issued by ICE — requests that ICE makes to a local jail to detain somebody for up to 48 hours to give federal agents time to investigate the person's immigration status or pick them up.
Gimenez said the move was necessary to ensure that the county doesn't lose out on $355 million it receives in federal funding. The county commission agreed, voting 9-3 on Feb. 17 to adopt Gimenez's decision.
The decision triggered protests throughout the county, where the majority of residents are foreign-born. People protested outside city hall for weeks, and the commission heard hours of testimony from immigrants, attorneys and religious leaders who questioned the legality and morality of the decision.
Friday's order addressed the case of James Lacroix, a Haitian who has been legally residing in Miami after he was granted "temporary protected status" following the island nation's devastating earthquake in 2010. He was arrested by local police and charged with two felony counts of driving with a suspended license, but was set to be released on Tuesday ,when the jail received a "detainer" request from ICE. Lacroix was then held for 28 hours before he was picked up by ICE.
Attorney Philip Reizenstein was in the courtroom that day when he overheard what was happening to Lacroix and decided to jump in. He challenged the county's decision to continue detaining Lacroix based only on the ICE detainer, leading to Friday's ruling.
Reizenstein said he will continue defending Lacroix during the appeals process because he believes the county's position is illegal and will violate the rights of future detainees.
"This order should give lawyers a road map," he said. "It's going to help others like him in Miami-Dade and others around the country who are being held only because the cities and states are bowing down to Trump."