- Both the Leon County Sheriff's Office and the Tallahassee Police Department have the ability to nominate and train its officers to perform functions of an ICE immigration officer.
- This comes after Ron DeSantis delegated immigration enforcement duties to all Florida county sheriff's offices.
- Watch now to learn more.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Local law enforcement have ties to federal immigration enforcement.
I'm Alberto Camargo in Downtown Tallahassee.
I'm breaking down how our local agencies are linked to the policies we've already seen carried out in our area.
Leon County commissioners approved a federal grant of $16,700 for correctional officers' salaries and overtime associated with the incarceration of undocumented criminal aliens."
The grant is a part of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, a part of the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Homeland Security.
This comes as several state law enforcement agencies and all Florida county sheriff's office have been delegated immigration enforcement duties under Governor DeSantis.
"You are going to see more effective interior enforcement when you have the state, local, and the federal government on the same page."
What's interesting is that the grant was applied for and approved in mid-January, before Trump took office and moved forward with his immigration policy.
I reached out to LCSO to find out why this money was needed, how it factors into its immigration enforcement strategy, and how many undocumented immigrants are currently incarcerated at the Leon County Jail.
But they did not immediately provide that information.
ABC27 also learned that the Tallahassee Police Department has entered into a similar agreement with ICE.
Known as the Task Force Model, the memorandum of agreement says TPD and LCSO personnel will be "nominated, trained, and thereafter be approved by ICE to perform certain functions of an immigration officer under the direction and supervision of ICE."
TPD Chief Lawrence Revell was not available for comment Tuesday.
The memorandum of agreement also says members of the local agency must be nominated for ICE training and certification by the agency's chief officer.
In Downtown Tallahassee, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
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