Once again, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is going to be on the wrong side of history.
Thursday’s decision to kowtow to the petulant policies of our new president, Donald Trump,
is a new low for Gimenez, who has instructed the corrections department to start detaining illegal immigrants that are arrested on unrelated crimes until federal authorities can pick them up.
This flies in the face of long standing county policy not to enforce federal immigration detention orders that dates to way before it was made official in 2013 with an ordinance that, for whatever legal reasons, states that the county refuses to indefinitely detain inmates wanted by immigration not because it was a “sanctuary city” — or that it was the right thing to do — but simply because the feds don’t reimburse the costs.
But we know that’s not the real reason. Because the cost is about $50,000 a year, according to the Miami Herald. That’s really not the reason. The reason was that we are a community of immigrants. Those of us who are lucky enough to be born here or have come here legally know someone who has not. They work hard cleaning and building our homes, fixing our roofs, taking care of our kids and cooking or serving our meals. Many if not most of them are decent people fleeing hardship, war, poverty and repression, trying to make a better life for themselves here.
Now, because Trump threatened to withhold federal funding — more than $350 million that is used in all kinds of services, from transportation to meals on wheels — the mayor is bending to his will. Just like he did when he almost gave Trump our public golf course on Key Biscayne. Is this a consolation prize?
Read related story: Carlos Gimenez’s next mancrush giveaway to Donald Trump
It’s a cowardly move.
Let me be clear: Ladra is all for comprehensive immigration reform that really works to make us safer. This is not it and does not do that. This net is far too broad and will have the unintentended (we hope) consequences of catching visa overstays who have been in this community working and paying taxes and following the rule of law for decades, who are mothers and fathers and students and caretakers, and puts them in deportation proceedings because they were are caught driving without a drivers license. This will split up decent, hard working families with no criminals in it. And the real criminals who are arrested for bigger crimes and typically get held longer anyway and are already sent to immigration proceedings because they are in the system that long, they will keep coming back because they are criminals and we’ve done nothing to change the porous borders.
Gimenez could have stood firm. He could have defended the immigrants — residents of his very county — instead of just bending over with a smile. He wouldn’t have been alone. The mayors of cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Syracuse and Austin have defied the order. Their legal counsels have told them that the president’s ability to just turn off the federal funding spigot is limited. There’s also a legal question as to what constitutes a sanctuary city. Miami-Dade is a county, after all, made up of 37 municipalities. Did Gimenez, who took a $15,000 contribution from Donald Trump for his campaign and went to the president’s inauguration, even consult the county attorneys or did they just not impart the same advice?
Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union, included his own legal opinion in a statement he made reacting to Gimenez’s move.
“At least, a court order is required, not simply a request from a federal official to keep someone detained behind bars,” Simon said. “We will resist every attempt by our government to punish immigrants, regardless of their immigration status.
“The decision made today by Mayor Giménez goes against the long history of Miami as a city of immigrants. It also 
goes against the advice of experts in police administration that these policies, such as Gimenez has just supported, only serve to create a wall of mistrust between the police department and our immigrant community,” Simon said.
So, what? Gimenez doesn’t need this community anymore. He certainly doesn’t need our votes ever again. He just won re-election and is termed out of office after these next four years. What he may need is for Trump to stay nice to his son, CJ Gimenez, a lobbyist who worked for The Donald in Doral and is now banking on those ties to get federal lobbying clients.
The president sure reacted to the mayor’s actions quickly, posting on twitter about it just hours after the announcement. Like someone flagged him to the Miami Herald story. Potus tweeted: “Miami-Dade Mayor drops sanctuary policy. Right decision. Strong!”
Read related story: Mayor’s son lobbies Trump with silent, same ‘ol partners
A group of immigration rights activists have organized a protest outside Gimenez’s office at 11 a.m. Friday morning. Ladra hopes he’s not playing golf at the Biltmore Hotel. And also that the demonstrators all have their papers because the mayor could call la migra on them.
The Facebook invitation to the “Gimenez SHAME ON YOU!” protest says that Gimenez “has BETRAYED the 
immigrant community by bowing to Trumps racist, xenophobic, and illegal policies. DEMAND that Mayor Gimenez and ALL elected officials in Miami-Dade County side with all immigrant women, children, and men.”
It also says that those who cannot attend can call 305-375-5071 and tell Gimenez that Miami-Dade needs to continue to be a welcoming place for immigrants.
“I’m disgusted,” said Juan Cuba, chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. “Miami-Dade County should be a sanctuary county. We should reject Donald Trump’s hateful immigrant rhetoric and policies and make sure our elected officials represent our residents.
“There are hundreds of thousands of families who will wake up tomorrow afraid of what this means for them.”
That’s how many of us felt Nov. 9.
Carlos Gimenez betrays our community for Donald Trump added by Ladra on
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Manny ,
Gimenez is a self serving crook who should not be trusted by anyone . Type of filth who puts in red light cameras because his son had ANOTHER ”consultant” position and this time for red light camera company.
Then after countless law suits , Gimenez takes credit for removing them after he had them put in.
I doubt that what Gimenez told Trump is what is actually going on here behind the scenes .
If you like Trump, that is great because you voted but Gimenez is truly a self serving , pocket lining parasite who sings a different tune depending on the audience .
[…] Read related story: Carlos Gimenez betrays the community for Donald Trump […]
[…] Read related story: Carlos Gimenez betrays the community for Donald Trump […]
[…] Read related story: Carlos Gimenez betrays our community for Donald Trump […]
[…] Read related story: Carlos Gimenez betrays our community for Donald Trump […]
[…] like the megamall approval by the Miami-Dade Commission, but from the stuff we didn’t, like the sanctuary cities buckle by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, which may finally be the straw that brings the emperor down (more on that […]
[…] like the megamall approval by the Miami-Dade Commission, but from the stuff we didn’t, like the sanctuary cities buckle by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, which may finally be the straw that brings the emperor down (more on that […]
Ladra, I am not a Gimenez fan, but on this one, I must agree with his decision to acquiesce to Trump’s Federal Directive regarding County Jail notifying ICE whenever an illegal alien is arrested and booked at the Miami-Dade County Jail. Besides, had Gimenez not acquiesced, Miami Dade would have lost countless federal grant dollars destined for public safety, a fiscal deficit Miami Dade taxpayers cannot afford to squander. Historically, you might remember that in 2002, Reynaldo Elias Rapalo – before he evolved in to the “The Shenandoah Rapist – was twice arrested by the Miami Police Department for lascivious and violent felonies perpetrated against female acquaintances, one a child. Miami PD, then under Gimenez’ direction as Miami city manager, failed to call INS. Rapalo, who had entered the USA legally, had over stayed his visa, which then and now remains a deportable immigration violation. Had Miami PD done what Trump now demands, Rapalo’s victims would have been spared the horror he inflicted upon them, for he would have been deported.
http://www.immigrationshumancost.org/text/rapalorunins.html
Gimenez is, was and will always be a lying tyrant. He prefers murdering companion animals to funding The Pet’s Trust he PROMISED AND SWORE to uphold the 2012 vote dependent upon the ‘will of the people’ where 65% of us passed it, then dissed us by saying we ‘didn’t know what we voted for.’ More people voted for it than for him! He is on par with the Orange Nazi and in fact tho he claims to have voted for Hillary after attempting to gift away Crandon’s golf course to Trump when his son worked for the Orange Nazi who believes that crock of shit after he attended the inauguration? His hand is outstretched for the dollars and support of the illegitimate president for his OWN benefit not ours. He is an embarrassment to Miami Dade, he is a murderer and liar and needs to be recalled. He is Miami’s own Furher and Fidel Castro! SHAME ON CARLOS GIMENEZ! Really glad to see the negativity regarding him FAR outweighs anything positive. (The positives must be on Gimenez’s ‘Friends and Family’ plan being paid high wages for doing absolutely nada. What other excuse is there for supporting his ugly white privileged immigrant ass while he disses legitimate voters and throws immigrants under the Trump bus?)
Where were all of these concerned citizens posting here when our mayor was stealing the 2012 election via absentee ballot fraud? Where were they when the mayor corrupted our entire contract awarding system, fired or transfered good county employees and gave jobs to friends and family? Fact is several of those posting here voted for that corrupt POS mayor. Now comes the crying about an immigration issue. Well, you voted for him, you supported him and now you have him. By the time he leaves the mayor’s office there will be just moths in our county coffers and plenty of rich lobbyists and contractors. You wanted him, you got him.
If you’re a second generation Miamian and you’ve come to the realization that; someone can be born, live, prosper and, die without ever speaking English, it’s hard to have sympathy for immigrants. Especially when you can’t get jobs because you don’t speak Spanish. If that makes me racist, so be it. Miami needs a breather from the Latin influx. 50 years of homogeneous immigration has virtually eliminated any semblance of assimilation.
Bravo Mayor G! Thank you for respecting the rule of law. Very well done. You have made our community proud.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
First every one needs to check the exact language of the order, and it’s doesn’t say illegals, it doesn’t say undocumented, and it doesn’t say felons that are illegal. It says “removable aliens” and just so you are informed that does include green card holders.
Brava, Ladra. I don’t always agree with you–I do not share your charitable view of the utterly spineless and craven Sen. Rubio, for one–but you are 100% correct and very eloquent on this issue. Shame on Gimenez. He’s a stain not just on Miami-Dade, but all of south Florida. I had considered applying for a job with the County, but I just can’t see myself working for someone like him.
so much for too many rules from Washington impinging on states rights.
trump has removed the power of judges to release prisoners if some stooge in washington says to detain them on TRUMPED UP charges. wecome to the third reich. lost all respect for carlos.
Okay, all you immigrant haters… here’s the rub.
Ladra has no problem with detaining and deporting violent criminals, like the man who killed that woman in California (who by the way WAS DEPORTED five times, as you say, so how does deportation stop crime again?). The problem with that is that it is not only felons who have standing detention orders with immigration and customs enforcement. Someone might have a detention order for skipping an INS hearing, for instance. If a college student with a detentiion order gets arrested for driving without a license, he or she could now be detained indefinitely and perhaps deported. I am not sure how much discretion police and corrections officers will have.
That is what I think is unfair and not at all in keeping with this community’s values. That is all. Gimenez does not represent the interests of this community.
Love, Ladra
So if we disagree we are “immigrant haters”? Wow. Surprised. Go high, Ladra.
If you know Ladra, you know she likes to use cultural jargon… haters has sorta become a broad term.
That said… yes, if you think all illegal immigrants are criminals or violent criminals or just need to be deported for no good reason other than they came here illegally because, in their view, there was no other choice, then yeah, you probably are an immigrant hater. If you feel that these policies that make good, decent people in bad situations — because you have to look at every case on a case by case basis — live fearfully in the shadows and you feel good about it, then, yeah, you are an immigrant hater.
Ladra has always called them as she sees them.
Woof!
Well, I believe in the rule of law so I guess that makes me an immigrant-hater in your eyes, even if I have a family of immigrants represented (sons and daughter-in-laws) near and dear to me. No wonder I feel so toxic. There are mechanisms where-by those who fear their government can apply for asylum. Even though the King of Jordan is housing and feeding refugee masses, our country has not come through for him with all the aid that was promised. I hope that changes too, because I see the pictures of the women and children just like everyone else.
You might enjoy reading Code Make: Johnny Walker. this is the story of an Iraqi interpreter who embedded with Seal Team Six. He had a lot of trouble coming here. His team of “brothers” acted on his behalf. He is now here. Yesterday he was on TV and said that Trumps action made him feel safer. You can argue all you want as to whether these orders were carried sloppily or not, but I’d like to point to the six instances in 2011 where Obama/Clinton did this (and for good reason).
Everybody’s hair is on fire over this …. not mine. I am watching and waiting to see how this plays out.
Haters? you’re writing an English language conservative blog, who did you think you were talking to?
In my experience the biggest critics of illegal immigration are legal immigrants, for example, we don’t see the dry foot Cubans as brave men and women seeking freedom but freeloaders gaming the system for a more generous welfare state.
Who you calling a conservative blog? Seriously? Have you read me much?
I am neither conservative, though liberals sometimes wonder, nor liberal, though my conservative GOP friends may differ. I am really in the middle almost always. Deep purple, which is also the name of a pretty decent rock band from the 70s. I know because I offend both liberals and conservatives on a regular basis. It’s how I roll.
That said, I do see all Cubans who flee the repression of the regime as brave women and men — regardless of the wetness or dryness of their feet. I don’t care how bad it is, it is very difficult to leave your homeland, your home, your friends and family. Nobody that I know who left Cuba has said it was easy. Are there abuses, yes. But I believe it’s the exception, not the rule. And, again, hateful policies are casting too wide a net.
Love, Ladra
you’re not writing for conservatives? on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being 1 being James Inhofe and 10 being CNN, you are a 4. Socially progressive but reasoned, ethical and fiscally live within your means.. add to which according the Jan 13th Atlantic’s article
“Why Conservative Politicians May Be More Attractive Than Liberal Ones” you would be consider right leaner in this very lefty town.
I know you also consider yourself a reporter not a politician but I would argue the distinction is unimportant.. A good political writer has far more impact on public policy than a room full of stuffed shirt politicians.
How DARE Mayors of cities simply decide which laws to enforce or NOT. There is a word for it, it’s called ANARCHY. And as the PRIOR CORRUPT PRESIDENT so rightly stated, “Elections have consequences” and GOP won. It’s now time to start ENFORCEMENT of FEDERAL LAWS that require these cities to comply. KEEP AMERICA SAFE FROM CRIMINALS.
if undocumented workers got a taxpayer ID number and paid their taxes and got health insurance, the situation might be different, but as it is, undocumented workers are costing this country huge amounts of money – and anyone who hires undocumented workers to clean and build our homes, fix our roofs, take care of our kids and cook or serve our meals in order to pay them less than the legal wage are worse than the poor migrants fleeing the hell hole countries from which they fled.
These Illegals broke the law by crossing the border without the proper paperwork. On top of that they committed crimes. They should be held and deported immediately. If you release them they are going to commit more crimes.
If you were the mother or father of Katey Steinle who was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant who was deported five times I’m sure you would feel totally different. It doesn’t hurt until it affects you!
Legal immigration yes, illegal immigration NO!
Dear Publisher DeValle:
I agree with you 100%.
Sincerely,
Jackson Rip Holmes
What is wrong with sending “ILLEGAL CONVICTED FELLONS back to their home land? I see nothing wrong with that, its time to clean up, take back our streets!
Law abiding Illegal Aliens have nothing to worry about, but if your a criminal – you should be sent back!
I dont want my tax dollars paying for this criminals to simply hang out in our jails, working out, working themselves up some more, etc…
I applaud Mr. Gimenez on this one.
Jerry that’s the point, as Ladra said, detainees can be working people that committed a mistake, a small felony and that with the new order would be imprisoned and given to ICE in order to deport her/him. I agree that violent criminals should be detained and deported, but not people without documents that came to work hard, making US economy better, as well as our communities with their work and taxes (many of them pay taxes) and who are fleeing hardship, persecution, etc and looking for a better life while they contribute to this country.
Have you seen the Heroin and crime problems that we have in our streets. People dying daily!
This is the right thing to do! I APPLAUD Mayor Gimenez for making the right choice! Like him or not, political reasons or not, what’s wrong with holding criminals in or Krome instead of releasing them back on our streets to commit more crimes!?
You’ve got to be really ignorant to believe that Trump or Mayor Gimenez are wrong! It takes guts to do what they both did!
It’s time to take our country and our cities back!
WAY TO GO MAYOR GIMENEZ AND PRESIDENT TRUMP!
#MAGA
See, Toxic? Haters who believe that the illegal immigrant community is responsible for the heroine crisis in our community. I know a lot of illegal immgrants. Not one of them use herione (to my knowledge and I am pretty astute about shit like that). I am sure some do. But the people who I have seen arrested and in rehab for heroine use in the news and on TV have overwhelmingly been natives, just fyi.
And, yes, there is something wrong with holding a Venezuelan waitress and single mother of two who overstayed her visa because she had nothing but an abusive family to go back to, or a Columbian man supporting his family by working hard labor every day, who overstayed his visa 15 years ago because his country was in the middle of a civil war (whether they called it that or not) — both of whom have never committed any other crime than staying in this country when they were supposed to leave — because they had a broken tail light and got arrested for having no drivers license. There is something wrong if they are deported. And there is something wrong if they are simply held for WEEKS for a hearing.
It is not wrong simply because it is not just. It is wrong also because it does nothing to fix the problem. The real criminals who do get deported with the decent people, THEY will find a way back because they are criminals. We need to secure our borders first and then offer a path to legalization for the 11 million people who are already here so they come out of the shadows and the real bad apples are identified and flushed out. This is only going to create fear and havoc.
You have to be ignorant to just cheer the emperors on even after you’ve been shown that they have no clothes.
Woof!
So now I’m ignorant too? First of all, I do not own everyone’s comments or attitude. Please don’t group me in with people I don’t know and may not even agree with. Also, just in case this comment string goes darker, let’s not invoke Godwin’s law either,
If you want to be an apologist, then perhaps you should take up Vicente Fox’s talking points -> it’s not the supplier, it’s the demand that causes the drug problems. Hell, anything goes when you are a SJW. I expected more from you but I still adore you.
RECALL!!!!!!!
On the other side of the coin after 50 years of unchecked immigration I think it’s fair to say Miami’s melting pot has lost its thermal inertia.. if immigration was checked today its going to take a generation before our pot builds back enough calor to precipitate some form of American assimilation. being bilingual is the norm here and in large parts of the city it is required.
The irony to this story is Herald posted 2 stories last night. One was this this one the other about some county workers who were suppose to be administering English proficiency test to cab drivers but were selling results for a cortadito and a sandwich. (Really? cabbies who don’t speak english in Miami? I’m shocked)
But at the same time these two stories were running the Mayor was at the Biltmore giving the keynote speech to the sister cities program about how Miami offers great business opportunities for foreign investment.
Yep, great timing.
I don’t like Trump and didn’t vote for him and I am all for finding a way to grant some sort of legal status short of citizenship for all those hard working decent undocumented immigrants. BUT I don’t see anything wrong with detaining undocumented immigrants arrested for a felony and possibly deporting them.
We have more than enough home grown criminals no need to import more.
What the idiotic and Ixenophobic Trump won’t do is find a way to grant some sort of legal status to those undocumented already here that aren’t criminals and fix the system so more hard working immigrants can come we actually need them. Otherwise our economy will stagnate and Social Security will go bust pronto.
Don’t get me started on Mexican fiasco and stupid idea of a 20 percent tariff to pay for a wall we don’t need. Plus if he puts a tariff on Mexican imports US consumers will end up paying for it anyway.
What is it they say about birds of a feather?