Miami-Dade is not a sanctuary jurisdiction. After being labeled a sanctuary 2013 to 2017, then-Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered full ICE cooperation in January 2017. Florida Senate Bill 168 (2019) requires all Florida sheriffs to honor ICE detainer requests.
Miami-Dade's Corrections Department previously declined some ICE detainer requests due to liability concerns. In January 2017, Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered full compliance with federal detainers after President Trump's executive order threatened federal funding. The Board of County Commissioners ratified the policy. Florida Senate Bill 168 (2019), codified at FL Chapter 908, then made ICE cooperation mandatory statewide and bans sanctuary policies. The Miami-Dade Sheriff (formerly Director of Corrections) holds individuals on 48-hour ICE detainers and shares jail booking data. The county does not separately enforce immigration law on the street; that remains a federal function.
A local official refusing to comply with ICE detainers or adopting sanctuary policies can be removed from office under FL §908.107 and the county exposed to civil suits and loss of state grants.
See how Miami Gardens's sanctuary policy preemption rules stack up against other locations.
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