The cost of complicity: A fiscal impact analysis of immigration detainers in Miami-Dade County

Days after Donald Trump was sworn into office, Miami-Dade County became the first to capitulate to his anti-immigrant agenda. By agreeing to honor immigration detainers, Miami-Dade turned their local jails into the first stop in a deportation pipeline. As a result, families are being torn apart and local taxpayers are footing the bill. The County received over 966 immigration detainer requests in the eleven month period following the decision. The Gimenez-Trump policy has swelled local jails by adding an additional 56 days in local custody to the average individual with a detainer. 98% of individuals with detainers released to ICE had never had a previous offense. It disproportionately impacts Black immigrants, who make up 22% of those still in detention.

The Gimenez-Trump policy has cost taxpayers approximately $12.5 million dollars in additional jailing costs between Jan. 27 and Dec. 28, 2017. Extrapolated over a year, assisting ICE could end up costing the county over $13.6 million annually. It has struck fear in immigrant communities, and brought national shame on Miami-Dade County. With the courts blocking Trump’s efforts to withhold federal funds, even the flimsy justifications offered by the Mayor are gone. It’s time to become a welcoming city once again.

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