PHOTO VIA ORANGE COUNTY MAYO JERRY L. DEMINGS FACEBOOK PAGE
The Orange County Commission voted unanimously last Tuesday to terminate the ICE component of its federal jail agreement, replacing it with a more limited arrangement that cuts the maximum detention period for immigration detainees from 72 hours to 48 hours.
The county has held a federal Intergovernmental Service Agreement since 1983, expanded in 2011 to include ICE. Under the new Basic Ordering Agreement, the county jail will still temporarily hold ICE detainees as required by Florida law, but with stricter time limits. The rest of the federal agreement, covering inmates from agencies like the FBI and DEA, will remain in place.
According to the county, they were being reimbursed $88 per day per detainee, while the actual cost ran over $180. The federal government’s final offer of $125 per day still didn’t close the gap, and under the new BOA, the federal reimbursement drops to $50 per person, but the county can apparently draw up to $150 per person through a state grant program.
Mayor Jerry Demings framed the vote as balancing community protection with state law obligations. Florida requires counties to maintain some form of ICE agreement, and Demings has been explicit about not wanting to risk removal from office, which would allow Gov. DeSantis to appoint replacements more aligned with federal immigration priorities.
