MIAMI (AP) – County commissioners in immigrant-rich Miami-Dade voted Friday to uphold their Cuban-born mayor’s order to cooperate with federal immigration officials, drawing shouts of “shame on you” from those hoping to make their community a sanctuary city.
Though it’s the only U.S. county where more than half the population is foreign-born, Miami-Dade has bucked a trend among some cities that have sought to defy federal immigration crackdowns out of sympathy with their large migrant populations.
The commissioners, voting 9-3, backed the order of Mayor Carlos Gimenez that was delivered after the administration of President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the so-called sanctuary cities.
“This is a country that opened arms to everyone, allowed opportunities to everyone. But this is also a country of law,” county commissioner Rebeca Sosa, also of Cuban descent, said before the vote taken in a special public session. “I am so sad to see that people are afraid of something that has nothing to do with immigration. This was just a financial decision.”
In emotional public testimony, dozens spoke against the order, including school-age children of deportees, young people brought to the U.S. without legal permission as children, construction workers, lawyers and rights activists.