Hemera/Thinkstock(MIAMI) — Lawmakers in Miami-Dade County on Friday backed the mayor’s controversial decision to cooperate with the federal government in detaining jailed immigrants slated for deportation.
Citing funding threats for sanctuary jurisdictions by President Donald Trump, Miami-Dade commissioners voted 9-to-3 in favor of Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s order, which declared that Miami-Dade “has never been a sanctuary community,” according to a statement.
The commissioners stood behind Gimenez despite listening to scores of residents who spent the day at County Hall hoping to persuade them to help protect Miami-Dade’s immigrant identity.
Miami-Dade has the largest population of Cuban-Americans in the U.S., according to the county’s website.
Protesters were heard shouting “shame on you” after the vote, according a reporter for ABC News affiliate WPLG-TV.
(More) Vote prompts some in audience to chant “shame on you” as they leave #Immigration #SanctuaryCity @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/2aLegSkOEf
— Glenna Milberg (@GlennaOn10) February 17, 2017
The mayor, who himself is an immigrant, announced last month that the county would comply with Trump’s crackdown on so-called sanctuary communities.
Trump threatened in an executive order to cut federal funding from “sanctuary” cities that sheltered immigrants who are living in the country illegally.
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