AG Uthmeier threatens removal of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor over immigration enforcement policies

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is accusing Tampa's mayor and police department of "undermining state law" when it comes to immigration enforcement.

Uthmeier sent a letter to Mayor Jane Castor on Wednesday, saying his office became aware that the Tampa Police Department had "sanctuary policies" when it comes to its 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

He said these policies include restricting immigration enforcement actions and prohibiting officers from sharing certain information with federal immigration authorities.

Uthmeier said this involved information about victims or witnesses of a crime, including investigating whether they have lawful status and sharing that with federal immigration authorities.

"TPD ostensibly supports these policies because they do not want illegal aliens to be concerned with immigration consequences by cooperating with law enforcement," Uthmeier wrote. "But we want illegal aliens to fear immigration consequences to the extent they are here unlawfully. These sorts of policies that flout our Nation's immigration laws positively contribute to the mass influx of illegal aliens that Florida has experienced."

Uthmeier added that Florida law requires state and local jurisdictions to "use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law." He said that federal immigration authorities must be alerted to people who are in the country illegally and perform investigations of their status.

He also said TPD's policies prohibit officers from engaging in "broad-based" immigration enforcement actions, arguing that this means the agency fails the "best efforts" test.

Uthmeier called for "immediate reversal" of the policies no later than March 31. He said if this is not done, there will be consequences. This includes all applicable civil penalties, including removal from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In response, Mayor Castor said the city will review the state's concerns and "evaluate our policies and procedures to ensure that we use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law."

ALSO READ: Tampa Mayor Jane Castor on building a new Rays stadium, Ybor City safety and more

"Tampa is one of the safest cities of our size in the nation because we built trust with our community through collaboration," Castor said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. "The Tampa Police Department signed the 287(g) and developed its immigration enforcement policy in consultation with partner agencies and law enforcement associations to ensure all immigration-related actions are carried out according to state and federal law.”

The 287(g) Agreement is a federal contract that allows state and local law enforcement to carry out immigration enforcement efforts for ICE.

Sheriffs for all of the state's 67 counties, as well as many city and even university police departments, like the University of South Florida, signed the agreement with ICE.

But in early February, on "Florida Matters Live & Local," Castor said TPD had not yet directly engaged with ICE because they hadn't received the necessary training.

The former Tampa Police Chief also told WUSF that when it comes to immigration from the perspective of people committing crimes in a community, there are ways to identify and apprehend them without "basically throwing a very wide and deep net and pulling everybody up in that net."

"The way that it's being approached right now, I think it has no advantage for anyone — Americans, immigrants, legal or otherwise," she said.

Castor was also critical of ICE's presence in Minneapolis at the time, saying there were more immigration officers than city police.

"That's an occupation," she said. "That's something that we will do everything in my power, and working with the state and the federal government, to avoid even playing a part in something like that."

When asked what her message is to immigrants who make Tampa their home, she said the city is a "very welcoming and collaborative community."

"We understand we are a minority majority. The largest minority population are Latinos and Hispanics in our community. They play a very big part in our workforce, and we depend on those individuals. We depend on the collaboration," Castor said.

"Clearly, no American is in support of individuals that are in our country committing crime — whether immigrant or not — so the focus on those individuals I have no issue with. Also switching to the police department hat, police officers' effectiveness or power comes from the trust of the community. If you don't have that trust in your community — among your residents, among your visitors — then the police department are going to be powerless to keep the community safe."

WUSF's Mark Schreiner contributed to this report.