One of the hallmarks of the Ron DeSantis administration compared to its GOP predecessors has been removal of locally elected officials from office — or threats to do so — for actions they claim are unlawful.
Now Byron Donalds, positioned to succeed Ron DeSantis in the governor's mansion next year, is promising more of the same.
The impulse extends to DeSantis' allies. Over the past year and a half, Florida Attorney General (and former DeSantis chief of staff) James Uthmeier, placed in the job by the governor, has threatened to remove elected municipal officials because they balked at fully supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts in removing undocumented immigrants.
Under a state law passed in 2025, "the sheriff or the chief correctional officer" operating a county detention facility must enter into 287(g) cooperation agreements with ICE. It does not require municipal officials to do so, and several Florida cities have opted not to.
Yet Uthmeier threatened city officials in Fort Myers, Key West, Tampa, and Orlando with removal over the past 18 months because they acted or spoke about loosening their 287(g) agreements.
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Donalds told the Phoenix over the weekend that Florida is not now and will never be a sanctuary state.
"If we have local officials decide that they want to ignore federal immigration law and the laws of the state of Florida and create sanctuaries, they'll be removed from office, as well," he said following a campaign rally in Tampa.
In Miami, Mayor Eileen Higgins campaigned last year on a promise to revisit the city's 287(g) agreement. In a statement issued last week, she said she intends to fulfill that promise.
"Since my campaign and since taking office, I have made clear to the community that we must all treat all residents humanely and with dignity, which is why I said the City should revisit the 287(g) agreement," Higgins said as reported by NBC 6 South Florida. "Since then, the Commission held a discussion at the end of June, and I look forward to a legislative item reaching my desk so I can sign it quickly."
Meanwhile, Charlie Crist, running for St. Petersburg mayor next week against incumbent Ken Welch and four other candidates, told WMNF radio Friday that ICE was "an interesting animal" and that he would consider rescinding the city's agreement with the agency.
"I'm not a fan of ICE. I'm a fan of enforcing the law but not murdering fellow Americans. That's unconscionable," he said, referring to the deaths of two U.S. citizens by ICE agents in Minneapolis in January.
Crist was asked in the interview if he would sign a 287(g) agreement.
"With ICE? Why would you?" he replied. He did not return a message Monday seeking clarification about his position.
St. Petersburg's police department did sign a 287(g) agreement last year. Welch noted last month that the city had not been trained in the 287(g) program and had no officers "who are active in it now."
'Soros prosecutors'
Florida did pass legislation in 2019 that bans state and local governments from enforcing sanctuary policies, defined as any "law, policy, practice, procedure, or custom adopted or allowed by a state entity or local governmental entity which prohibits or impedes a law enforcement agency from complying with federal immigration laws or which prohibits or impedes a law enforcement agency from communicating or cooperating with a federal immigration agency."
The confusion over whether municipalities need formal agreements with ICE led the city of South Miami to go to court a year ago. During testimony, attorneys representing the state told the judge municipalities are not required by law to enter into 287(g) agreements, WLRN reported.
Donalds also told the Phoenix that he wouldn't hesitate to suspend state attorneys who he says are not enforcing the law.
DeSantis suspended two elected Florida state attorneys for what he called "incompetence" and "neglect of duty" and replaced them with former prosecutors he had initially appointed to be judges.
"Let me be very clear. You have a responsibility to follow the Constitution and follow the law in our state. If you have a state attorney that is not prosecuting the law and enforcing the law, they're going to be removed from office, because it destabilizes law and order in safe communities in our state," Donalds said.
"We're not going to tolerate that the way that they've done in these blue states," he added. "That's one of the reasons why people are coming into our state. Because they want to be safe. So, we're not going to ask some state attorney who's going to go rogue and follow [George] Soros and the DSA thinking that they're not going to uphold Florida law."
Republicans have attacked "Soros prosecutors" over the years, referring to the millions of dollars that Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros has contributed to the campaigns of reform-oriented prosecutors around the nation. Soros has been a general bogeyman for conservatives because of his financial support of progressive causes.
DeSantis suspended Hillsborough County Democratic State Attorney Andrew Warren in 2022 and Orange/Osceola County Democratic State Attorney Monique Worrel in 2023. Both went to court to win their jobs back. Worrell ultimately returned to office in 2024, winning re-election by more than 15 points.
Worrell's predecessor, Aramis Ayala, was removed from murder cases on two separate occasions by Florida governors (first by Rick Scott in 2017 and by DeSantis in2020) because of her public objection to the death penalty, but was never removed from her position.
DeSantis suspended Warren because he pledged not to prosecute people seeking abortions or gender-affirming care for minors. After Warren filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging his suspension, a judge ruled in January 2023 that the governor had violated the First Amendment in removing him because of political differences and anticipated "political benefit" to the governor.
That judge added, however, that he lacked power to reinstate Warren. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled in January 2024 that the judge should reconsider that decision, but the DeSantis administration appealed. Two months after Warren lost his bid for re-election in November 2024, the same 11th Circuit panel ruled that Warren's challenge was moot, since his four-year term in office had expired.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
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