The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and sheriffs from several Florida counties announced new efforts to enhance public safety Wednesday.
The Deputy Director of ICE announced 17 Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA), which will involve 17 jurisdictions in Florida in an effort to make the area safer with regards to people who are here illegally.
“This process will result in fewer criminal aliens released to the street. It’s as simple as that,” said ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan. “The stronger our partnerships are with local law enforcement, the better we can execute ICE’s public safety mission and protect our communities.”
A BOA is an existing procurement tool for acquiring a substantial, but presently unknown, quantity of supplies or services. A BOA is not a contract, but rather is a set of terms negotiated between an agency and a service provider that contain a description of services to be provided, terms applicable to a future order between the parties, and a method for pricing, issuing, and delivering on future orders.
ICE says the collaborative effort is to ensure that dangerous criminals here illegally are not released back into the community.
There will now be a 48 hour hold once criminals are released from custody so that ICE can pick them up, and the local service provider will be reimbursed for the detention costs.
Sheriff Gualtieri of Pinellas County says the agreement is in place to address criminal illegal aliens, not just people who are here illegally.
"When it comes to criminal illegals, there should be no discussion. There should be no debate. There should be no hesitation. There should be no considerations is they need to go and they need to stay gone and we should all be committed to that," Sheriff Gualtieri said.
RELATED: That's So Grady: A look back at some of our favorite Grady Judd moments from 2017
Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County was also in attendance and cited a few cases where criminal illegal aliens committed violent crimes in Florida and went to jail for 50+ years on taxpayer dollars.
Representatives from the National Sheriffs' Association and the Major County Sheriffs of America were also on hand in the joint press conference.
"This is very different from what the courts had an issue with because the sheriff's are not acting in our capacity and making decisions to hold these people. So, there's no 4th amendment issue and the decision that's being made by ICE is fully compliant with the 4th amendment because they have probable cause. There's a warrant and they're booking them into the jail," Sheriff Gualtieri said.
The sheriffs who have pledged the new agreement with ICE include Sarasota, Hillsborough, Hernando, Polk, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties.
