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Police chief defends ICE task-force MOU as residents, advocates demand answers
Summary
Coral Gables police chief said the department signed a memorandum of understanding with ICE to allow ‘best-effort’ cooperation and training; residents urged the commission to oppose the MOU and raised concerns about civil detainers and community trust.
Coral Gables Police Chief Hudak told the city commission on March 11 that he had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to allow selected officers to participate in a task force and receive federal training and reimbursement. The chief said signing the MOU was an operational necessity and did not turn local officers into ICE agents.
“This was an operational agreement that I signed,” Hudak said in a lengthy explanation to the commission and the public. “We are not ICE agents. We are not a jail facility. This agreement does nothing more than give us training and the ability for reimbursable funds from the federal government through the state.”
Hudak repeatedly emphasized limits on the…
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