Gimenez spars with Daniella Levine Cava on immigration

Immigration policy is driving a wider rift between Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who in 2017 kowtowed to President Donald Trump’s flimsy threat on cities that did not honor immigration detainer requests — becoming the first U.S. mayor to ask “how high sir?” — and Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, who wants to replace him in 2020.

Upon learning about immigration sweeps that start Sunday across the country, including in Miami-Dade, Levine Cava — who needs traction on the Hispanic vote more than anything else to win — asked, in a two-part tweet from her campaign account Friday afternoon, that the mayor and Police Director Juan Perez brief the commission on how the county will respond.

“It is critically important that @MayorGimenez & @MiamiDadePD Director Perez brief @MiamiDadeBCC immediately with information on how this County will respond. We must continue efforts to remove dangerous criminals. But given the Trump Administration’s inhumane treatment of children & targeting of families fleeing political oppression, these raids call for close monitoring & review. I have no doubt that tonight many families from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, & many more, will be losing sleep fearing they will be next.”

Gimenez issued a statement about three hours later, basically saying she was campaigning on the issue:

“As Mayor of Miami-Dade County, I encourage my colleagues not to allow the political climate to impact their actions as the election cycle nears. To this end, I am aware of news reports that federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement may be conducting immigration enforcement operations within multiple jurisdictions across the nation, including Miami-Dade.

“Federal law enforcement authorities typically do not forecast these types of activities, and we simply do not know the extent of such a planned operation. As such, monitoring or reviewing a federal operation or processes is not in local governments’ purview because the Federal government operates outside the scope of review of the County government.

“If these operations are taking place, my hope is the individuals being removed are for offenses that are violent in nature or accomplish other priorities that make the community safer. Impacting the lives of immigrant families without due process is simply not justifiable or prudent.

“I remind the community of our commitment to building trust and confidence between our Miami-Dade Police Department and our immigrant community, whether legally documented or not. The Miami-Dade Police Department, while it respects its federal law enforcement partners, will not participate in any operations or sweeps involving ICE for the purpose of enforcing immigration detainers.

I remind all, including Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, that this has been my stance all along, a position reinforced by Police Director Juan Perez.

“In short, our community should not fear our local police.”

The truth is that since that fateful day when the mayor aligned himself with Trump — and our corrections department started holding immigrants with detainers even after they posted bail or were otherwise released — the county has detained thousands more immigrants, without any new federal funds, by the way.

In fact, more than 400 of those detained are legal U.S. residents who were held erroneously after they posted bail. So we shouldn’t be afraid of that?

And who knows how much this policy will end up costing us in legal fees?

Half an hour after the mayor issued his statement, Levine Cava responded:

“I asked @MayorGimenez what he would do to protect MDC residents & US citizens from the reckless & cruel raids. ICE & POTUS have said they will not only target violent offenders. My job is to get answers for my constituents, many of whom are going to bed in fear.”

She’s got nothing to lose by taking him on. Gimenez is already backing Commissioner Esteban Bovo for the mayoral seat in 2020. She has everything to gain by going against him.

And it’s not the first time the two clash on immigration. Levine Cava was the first commissioner — and a newbie back then — to question Gimenez on the sanctuary city move in 2017.

So expect more of this.

In fact, Levine Cava told Political Cortadito she would make a “longer statement” Saturday.

Carlos Gimenez, Daniella Levine Cava, immigration

Gimenez spars with Daniella Levine Cava on immigration added by Ladra on June 21, 2019
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