Gov. DeSantis addresses controversial Fort Myers City Council ICE vote

Gov. Ron DeSantis is threatening action against the Fort Myers City Council ahead of an emergency vote on immigration.

The council recently denied a partnership between the city’s police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), drawing criticism from state leaders.

DeSantis has made it clear that all jurisdictions in Florida must assist with immigration efforts.

“Under our law, they must be involved in it,” said DeSantis after bringing up Fort Myers city council in a Thursday morning press conference. “And that will happen one way or another, and we will get that done.”

The Fort Myers City Council reached a deadlock in a decision that would have allowed the city’s police to partner with ICE to detain and arrest people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally on Monday.

According to DeSantis, the city has a legal duty to comply.

“The city council’s fighting the mayor and the police chief about whether Fort Myers PD should be involved in it, and it’s not a policy question at this point,” said DeSantis.

67 county sheriffs have signed agreements with ICE, and DeSantis insists the same must be done at the municipal level.

“It sounds tyrannical,” said Fort Myers resident, Israel Coover.

Meanwhile, Nancy Morrell, another resident, liked the idea of an ICE partnership: “If it’s that much of a tie, then someone just has to make a decision and go forward with it, and they can work together and make it happen.”

In a statement, Mayor Kevin Anderson expressed hope that the upcoming meeting would lead to an “amenable resolve with federal and state directives.”

City Council member Darla Bonk is among the dissenting voters who have faced severe backlash due to their decision, which resulted in some of her personal information being leaked to the public.

So why hold a vote in the first place? WINK News reporter Amy Galo asked Peter Bergeson, FGCU political science professor.

“It’s really more of a formality,” explained Bergeson. “It’s a process of agreeing with the objective of cooperation between local federal agents, frankly, as well as state agencies as well.”

Despite that, the upcoming vote in Southwest Florida holds significant political weight.

Bergeson explained how political figures have amplified the issue.

“The involvement of the governor, the involvement of the congressmen have raised the stakes. That has really raised the exposure of the issue to make it the number one story in southwest Florida,” said Bergeson.

Regardless of the vote’s outcome, Bergeson explained the implications of Friday’s council discussion will remain political rather than legal.

“They do not need that to do it,” said Bergeson. “It’s a more of an indication of cooperation to working together. And frankly, what it really amounts to is that the Fort Myers Police Department would be engaged in training so that they would know the processes and procedures that ICE uses.”

When WINK News asked the city of Fort Myers’ spokesperson why the city took part in a vote, she shared it’s in the city charter that council vote on agreements.

But it’s a decision Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has spoken up against in a letter to the city, saying that the city council violated state law with the vote.

Uthmeier explained that by voting down the 287 (g) agreement, the council broke the law and enacted a “sanctuary policy.”

Now, as council appears divided headed into Friday’s vote, the community does too.

“I hope that they vote against it, but I know that that is kind of futile, because they’ll cut public spending or public funding in a bunch of areas if they do,” said Coover.

Armando Mercado, another resident, added, “It baffles me that some people would vote no that they don’t want ICE to integrate with the local police and help probably clean our streets, or even better, keep us safe.”

The Fort Myers City Council meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Mayor Anderson provided the following statement when asked what we can expect:

“The City of Fort Myers has scheduled a City Council Emergency Special Meeting this Friday (3/21) at 2 p.m. EST to revisit the proposed memorandum between FMPD and ICE. This is another tool for our police to keep our City safe. With that, City Management has been taking proactive steps to readdress the matter, and I hope tomorrow’s meeting leads to an amenable resolve with federal and state directives.”