Will Key West rebel against Florida state government on ICE agreements with police?

Miami commissioners recently agreed to the 287(g) after emotional debate, and the state attorney general says all cities must cooperate - or else.

Key West City Commissioners will decide tonight whether to terminate its police force’s agreement with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] that deputizes city officers to partner with the federal agency.

A vote against what’s known as the 287 (g) agreement is an act of rebellion in the state of Florida.

Key West, a tiny blue dot in a state and county that runs red, would stand as a lonely dissenter against the federal and state immigration crackdown.

A Key West man was detained on Harris Avenue on June 12, 2025, following a traffic stop. He was riding a bike. He’s now locked up at the Krome detention center in Homestead. Screenshot from contributed video.

I don’t know anyone who expects Commissioner Monica Haskell’s resolution to pass.

“It’s very unlikely,” immigration attorney Amanda Velazquez told me Monday. “They’re between a rock and a hard place.”

Here’s what Haskell’s resolution says, though:

“The community has expressed concerns both for the security of legal immigrants within our community, and for the potential financial liabilities laid out in the 287(g),” the proposed resolution reads.

“The public perception that the KWPD is assisting in this ongoing immigration enforcement beyond the scope of their normal duties erodes public trust in the KWPD and damages the KWPD’s mission of law enforcement and public safety.”

But Monday’s special commission meeting about ICE activity in Key West is an opportunity for transparency. Who is getting stopped, detained and sent up to the Krome detention center in Homestead?

Key West city spokesman Alyson Crean has said the police department isn’t keeping records and refers requests for information to ICE, which hasn’t exactly been blasting out information, such as releasing numbers of stops or detainments or incident reports at the moment.

Even if Key West commissioners overturned the police chief’s agreement with ICE, the federal agents would still be on the island streets pulling over whoever they wish, she told me.

“At the end of the day it doesn’t even matter,” Velasquez said. “There are valid pending cases right now. I have eight clients detained [in Krome].”

All eight clients have been working their way toward obtaining asylum in the court system, she said.

But at least locals will have a chance to speak up about ICE if they want to at City Hall.

“There are a lot of folks paying attention to this issue now,” Velazquez said.

One of Velazquez’s clients was recently picked up at a Key West gas station while filling a gas can with fuel.

“They said it was because he looked ‘nervous,’” she said.

The man had done nothing wrong, she said. He was even driving his employer’s car — which has a valid registration.

This sign was posted along Fleming Street in Key West on June 25, 2025. Locals have started a movement demanding information on that activity of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] on the island.

Why is it so hard to believe a majority of the seven commissioners would end the agreement?

For starters, Florida has an aggressive attorney general who has threatened elected officials with removal if they don’t fall into line with this immigration crackdown.

“Sanctuary policies are not tolerated or lawful in Florida,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote to the city of Fort Myers in March, after three members voted to stop a local ICE agreement.

Within days, the council reversed itself.

Uthmeier tweeted in response: “Good choice.”

After Uthmeier said his office would investigate the three council members who were against the ICE agreement, Gov. Ron DeSantis backed his AG’s warnings.

“The 287(g) program trains local law enforcement to aid ICE,” DeSantis posted. “Florida will ensure its laws are followed, and when it comes to immigration — the days of inaction are over. Govern yourselves accordingly.”

‘Lack of transparency’

Key West police already have a 287 (g) agreement — police chief Sean Brandenburg signed it March 3.

But it happened under the radar — no announcement or city commission vote.

“The issue is the lack of transparency, which seems to be the way things work in this city,” Velazquez said.

So many locals felt blindsided and only learned after spotting Key West police with ICE agents at traffic stop scenes — many of which were people riding on bicycles.

After hundreds of locals started a movement to protect people from being plucked off the street by ICE without due process — yes, it’s happened, according to attorneys and family members of immigrants who’ve been targeted — City Commissioner Sam Kaufman called for a special session to discuss ICE’s activity on the island.

Miami city leaders voted to approve their 287(g) after emotional debate. Their police chief told them it’s either sign up with ICE or face political consequences.

“There’s a very strong inference that if we do not enter into this agreement, there would certainly be some sort of repercussion,” Police Chief Manuel Morales said before the council’s 3-2 vote to approve the agreement, WPLG Local 10 reported.

South Miami Mayor Javier Ferandez in May has challenged the idea of signing up with ICE.

“I’m on the hook for the liability,” Fernandez told WLRN. He’s waiting on a judge to decide whether the city is required to partner with ICE.