Miami-Dade County does not release dangerous illegal aliens to thwart U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), nor does it defy the rule of law in this country -- ever.
And the papers Judicial Watch released last week lumping Miami-Dade with bad-actor "sanctuary counties" are entirely incorrect, insists officials at county hall and at the Miami-Dade Corrections Department.
County corrections officers reacted quickly after a Sunshine State News story reported Saturday that in the first quarter of 2017, 93 individuals whose fingerprints were identified by other law enforcement agencies as belonging to persons of interest, charged with assault, drug or weapons violations, were processed out before ICE agents could get to them -- in defiance of orders from President Trump and Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
The orders are known as immigration detainer requests. They are tools used by ICE and other Department of Homeland Security officials when the agency identifies potentially deportable individuals who are held in jails or prisons nationwide.
In a release issued Thursday, Judicial Watch reported that in the first three months of the year, Miami-Dade denied 93 ICE detainer requests, making it second only to Ventura County, Calif. (188) in counties denying such requests to hold criminal illegal aliens.
Here is what Juan Diasgranados, public affairs manager for Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Department told Sunshine State News:
"Miami-Dade County and Miami-Dade Corrections does not deny detainer requests. We comply with the law.
"When someone is arrested in Miami-Dade County, they are fingerprinted, photographed, ID’d, and all of that information is sent to various agencies throughout the country. ICE flags individuals they are interested in, and sends Miami-Dade County a request to hold them until immigration officers can apprehend the person.
"Once the person in custody serves their local time, pays bond, etc. we hold the individual for 48 hours so that ICE can pick up the person. If ICE does not come and pick up the person, we release them. There have been instances that ICE does not make it in time, or is no longer interested in the individual, etc. and does not make it in the 48 hours.
"Miami-Dade County and Miami-Dade Corrections are complying with the law and following the rules. And we do hold these serious offenders in our custody."
Diasgranados said his figures show a breakdown of 97 inmates with an ICE detainer let out of jail in the first quarter as follows:
- 54 were released to ICE;
- 43 were released out of Miami-Dade's custody (Ice never came to pick them up or were not interested).
He said he "could not speak for ICE, so you would have to reach out to them to see how and why they don't pick up some individuals."
ICE's South Florida spokesman Nestor Yglesias said Monday he is not familiar enough with the Judicial Watch document to comment on how the watchdog organization arrived at its figure of 93 inmates with detainer requests, nor did he have numbers readily available. "You will have to send me what you want to know in writing and I'll investigate."
After placing numerous phone calls and leaving voice mail messages with Judicial Watch on Monday, SSN was unable to speak with a spokesperson who could explain the discrepancies.
Michael Hernandez, communications director for Mayor Gimenez, explained the city's long history of detainer requests, which started in 2013 when county policy had Miami-Dade declining all detainer requests. Those rules prompted the Obama administration to label Miami-Dade a “sanctuary” community in 2016, but Gimenez’s switch at President Trump's request -- endorsed by the County Commission in February -- ended that status.
Hernandez said Miami-Dade never was a true "sanctuary" county, that the only reason the county released prisoners was because the federal government failed to pay the average $150-a-day per prisoner it owes the county for holding prisoners until they're picked up. The feds still owe the county some $4 million for those detentions, Hernandez said.
"Now we hold all prisoners they want us to hold for 48 hours, even though we're not paid to do it," Hernandez said. "Sometimes ICE comes and picks them up quickly, sometimes they tell us they don't want a prisoner anymore and he can go, or they let the 48 hours expire and the prisoner is released."
Said Diasgranados, "The bottom line is, Judicial Watch and Sunshine State News' reporting of Judicial Watch's information led readers to mistakenly believe we are releasing individuals at our own will."
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
