Steube Calls for Suncoast Cooperation With ICE
WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) has sent a letter to police chiefs in Florida’s 17th congressional district urging them to enroll their respective departments in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) program.
President Trump’s Executive Order 14159, Protecting People Against Invasion, directed Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) to permit enrolled state and local authorities to perform specific immigration officer functions under section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). All agencies enrolled in the 287(g) program are directed and supervised by ICE in their execution of immigration law enforcement.
“After four years of disastrous border and immigration policies under the former Biden administration, the American people overwhelmingly entrusted President Trump to secure our border and protect the American homeland from the violence that criminal illegal aliens have brought to our country,” said Rep. Steube. “This is not just a duty for our law enforcement and border patrol partners at the southern and northern borders, but for every single law enforcement agency in Florida and the United States.”
Representative Steube’s letter comes in the wake of the recent arrest of an illegal immigrant in Charlotte County for assault and sexual battery. In his letter, Representative Steube requested police chiefs in Florida’s 17th district clarify whether their agency or department was enrolled or pursuing enrollment in the 287(g) program. He also asked that they provide a report on any grants or funding their agency was receiving or seeking from the federal government. Representative Steube emphasized the need for law enforcement to partner with ICE in resolving the migrant crisis and restoring security to the United States.
Over the course of the Biden administration’s four years in office, Border Patrol encountered more than three times as many illegal immigrants crossing the southern border than under the first Trump administration. Since taking office and signing Executive Order 14159, President Trump has overseen the largest reduction in illegal migration in American history with illegal entries into the U.S. falling to their lowest level since 1968.
Read the letter here.
