ORLANDO, Fla. — The City of Orlando will not take any action to prevent ICE from potentially setting up a detention center in Orlando.
Mayor Buddy Dyer confirmed in a statement sent to Channel 9 Monday evening, “Due to the Supremacy Clause within the U.S. Constitution, the city is unable to take action to limit or regulate any activity by the federal government.”
Channel 9 was the first to break the story that ICE officials toured a warehouse near Sunbridge off Transport Drive earlier this month. The property now falls within city’s jurisdiction after it was annexed.
ICE Senior Advisor David Venturella confirmed with Investigative Reporter Ashlyn Webb that ICE was in the “exploratory phase” of looking at a site in Orlando and no contracts had been signed.
Mayor Buddy Dyer released this statement after City Attorney Mayanne Downs sent her legal opinion to commissioners Sunday night. The Mayor asked her office to research and report about what options the City of Orlando has to regulate or prevent ICE’s potential plans.
“Some of you have received suggestions of actions we can supposedly take, including declaring or seeking moratoriums, or using our zoning ordinances to outlaw or otherwise stop the use of property within our borders as ICE detention centers, whether directly by ICE or its agents,” Downs said in an email to city commissioners.
Downs states ICE is immune to any local regulation.
“In sum, we can take no action to limit or regulate any activity by the federal government in its action to enforce federal immigration law, and that is clear and not debatable under the law of the United States and Florida. We are duty bound to follow the law, even when we don’t approve of it,” Downs wrote.
Channel 9 will have a full story on WFTV Tonight.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.