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Florida Sheriff's Association frustrated over immigration enforcement noncompliance listing

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has started publishing a weekly list of sheriff’s offices across the country that are not cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in dealing with illegal immigrants.

It is a move that the Florida Sheriffs Association has decried, saying the DHS has been unwilling to work with local law enforcement agencies on the issued.

“At the heart of the problem is ICE’s detainer and civil arrest forms,” the FSA said in a media release. “The courts and statutory law prohibit sheriffs from keeping people in jail based only on receipt of these forms.

“ICE wants the sheriffs to comply with these detainers and civil arrest forms when we cannot lawfully do so.”

This puts sheriffs in a tough spot, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.

“This is a very disheartening problem that needs to be handled immediately,” said Demings, who is also the president of the FSA. “We support and cooperate with ICE in their efforts to identify and deport criminal aliens.

“However, we also swear under oath to protect, support and defend the U.S. Constitution. We are here to serve our communities and our country and are simply asking for enhanced information sharing between federal, state and local law enforcement regarding illegal immigrants.”