Latest news with #IntergovernmentalServiceAgreement
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
No longer ‘disappeared', Orange County ICE detainees are now public
Orange County has begun identifying — in prominent fashion — the jail inmates it holds on immigration detainers, reversing its practice of hiding their names that drew angry protests. Now, beneath a detainee's mugshot on the jail's website, a yellow banner displays 'Immigration Hold.' The county previously had insisted its agreement with federal authorities required it to withhold the names of detainees, though other jails have shown such immigration detainers. But families complained their loved ones were being 'disappeared' into the immigration detention system. Mayor Jerry Demings directed corrections staff to reverse course in late June. 'Moving forward, this database will include ICE immigrant detainees,' Demings said in a statement. 'I believe this will assist family members of detainees in locating their loved ones. Relevant information for the public is now available on the jail's website.' Such information is valuable to attorneys and family members who are trying to find inmates though the value can be fleeting. Federal immigration detainees are often transferred swiftly to facilities in Miami, the new 'Alligator Alcatraz' in the Everglades, or other facilities in Texas and New Mexico. Once they're transferred to an ICE facility, finding them can be challenging. 'It's an incredibly good first step and we're deeply grateful to the elected officials who are finally listening to us,' said Felipe Sousa Lazaballet, the executive director of the Hope CommUnity Center in Apopka. 'It's completely unacceptable to live in a community where people disappear.' Under Orange County's Intergovernmental Service Agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the county jail serves as one of a handful of facilities across the state that houses federal inmates. County commissioners are expected to further discuss the agreement at a meeting next week. That means people arrested on immigration charges beyond the county's borders – in some cases 100 miles from Orange County – are booked and housed into the jail until they can be transferred to an ICE facility. That agreement has come under fire as well, in part because the county is only reimbursed $88 per day an inmate is held, while it costs about $145 to detain someone. Sousa Lazaballet said he believes the county should terminate the IGSA agreement all together. Previously, when inmates were booked in the jail with an immigration detainer but no local charges, their name never appeared on the jail's roster. But when a person was booked on a criminal charge or even a traffic ticket with such a detainer, they'd appear on the jail's website until the local charge was settled. After that, they'd become a federal inmate and be removed from the roster – despite often still being in the same jail. 'I'm grateful that there's more transparency now in the data for families to be able to find their people in the Orange County Jail,' said Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad, who had been calling for the change. Even still, she said, some people are being lost in the system when they're transferred from the Orange County Jail to another facility and then brought back to the local jail, she said. 'That's where we're still losing people,' she said. 'Families feel as though their loved ones are being lost.' rygillespie@ shudak@
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chesapeake Sheriff's Office expanding partnership with ICE
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — The Chesapeake Sheriff's Office recently announced an expansion of its partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to a release, the expansion is part of an Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) first discussed in 2022 to offer ICE a 72-hour window to complete custody or removal deportation proceedings at the Chesapeake Correctional Center. 'This finalized agreement reflects Sheriff Rosado's ongoing commitment to keeping our community safe and his dedication to building strong working relationships with federal, state and local agencies,' the release states. The agreement marks the first of its kind for the Hampton Roads region. The expansion comes as the Trump Administration works to deport people in the country illegally in record numbers, even at one point offering immigrants in the United States illegally $1,000 to leave voluntarily. Continue to check for updates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
