Following Punta Gorda City Council’s unanimous approval of a memorandum of agreement between the city and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, City Attorney David Levin said the agreement should have been limited and leaves the city vulnerable to lawsuits.
Dozens of residents attended the March 19 Council meeting, with many expressing concerns residents would be taken from schools, churches and their homes if suspected of being undocumented. In addition, there were questions whether Punta Gorda Police Department officers charged with an additional duty would cost the city money and if the city could be sued or incur expenses because of the agreement.
“We are not going to go out searching and doing roundups and pulling people out of their houses,” Punta Gorda Police Chief Pam Smith said during the meeting. “We’re not going into schools, not going into churches and looking for people.”
She said the federal government will provide training for her officers and pay for travel and lodging for training sessions, if necessary. The agreement gives officers “more authority to investigate” if they find a suspect has an administrative warrant.
Levin said it is not that simple.
“I believe if that was the full extent of this memorandum of agreement, I would have less concern about the legal liabilities of the city for entering into the agreement,” he said following Council’s vote.
He referred to Section 5 of the MOA that outlines a broader authority.
Officers, under the MOA, have the authority to interrogate “any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or remain in the U.S.; the power to arrest without warrant an alien entering or attempting to unlawfully enter the U.S. in the officer’s presence or view; the power to arrest without warrant for felonies which have been committed; the power to arrest and execute warrants for immigration violations; the authority to administer oaths and to take and consider evidence and fingerprint the suspect; plus other broad-reaching powers, such as maintaining custody of aliens arrested by ICE.”
Levin maintained that the MOA adopted “creates the potential for liability if the city does things that run afoul of constitutional rights.”
He said the agreement doesn’t provide for any reimbursement should the city be sued.
Also, the MOA mandates the city provide an interpreter who speaks the language of the person detained if they cannot speak English.
This expense, too, would not be reimbursed.
“The city is not legally required to adopt this memorandum,” Levin contended.
During the public portion of the meeting, resident and attorney Steven Leskovich said Council doesn’t have a choice but to adopt the MOA and cited the U.S. Supremacy Clause of the Constitution that states federal law takes precedence over state laws.
Earlier this week, the city of Fort Myers, in a 3-3 split vote, did not approve the MOA. As a result, the city is being threatened and admonished on several fronts — by Rep. Byron Donalds, who called for the three council members who voted against the MOA to be removed from their jobs, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who has the authority to suspend the city officials.
In addition, the city faces lawsuits and threats of losing state and federal funding.
Council member Greg Julian said the city did not vote the way that it did because of the repercussions Fort Myers is facing.
But some Punta Gorda residents fear there will be lawsuits and repercussions. Jim Blue said the agreement “is a bad idea. You can bet there will be lawsuits.”
