Coral Gables becomes Miami-Dade testing ground for Trump and DeSantis immigration crackdown

Coral Gables police officers will soon be the first in Miami-Dade County that the Trump administration will empower to stop, interrogate and arrest immigrants who they suspect are in the United States illegally.

The Coral Gables Police Department’s new agreement with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement shines a spotlight on how the City Beautiful, known for its manicured lawns, hyper-strict code enforcement and pre-approved paint colors, has brought President Donald Trump’s and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on illegal immigration into the fold of local law enforcement. The city’s agreement is one in nearly 180 signed by local law enforcement agencies across Florida — by far the most of any state in the nation.

Already, the agreement is leading to residents’ concerns about its potential impact on community-focused policing, even as the city’s police chief says that the agreement is simply “operational” and meant to comply with a state law that requires locals to fully cooperate with federal immigration officials.

READ MORE: Florida’s police and sheriffs on the vanguard of Trump’s immigration-enforcement plans

During a city commission meeting Tuesday — the first since the agreement was signed — Coral Gables Police Chief Edward James Hudak described the agreement as a “codification of not doing things from the hip.”

“It does not mean that we are going to be knocking on doors, checking on people, checking on yardmen. If they commit a crime, anything like that, we will do the crime investigation, and that will be asked,” said Hudak.

Hudak signed the agreement with ICE on March 5 without seeking the approval of the city commission. He said he approved the contract — which could have sweeping implications in community relations — with the input of two top administrators, the city manager and city attorney.

The Florida Sheriffs Association recently announced that all 67 sheriffs are working with ICE, so all 67 county jails have deputized officers through the 287(g) program, as mandated by state law. Hudak acknowledged that while municipalities like Coral Gables are not required to have those agreements, it was an avenue to comply with Florida law banning “sanctuary cities” — places that limit collaboration on immigration enforcement with the federal government in a broad variety of ways. The legislation requires local law enforcement agencies to fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

“That does not mean that we are going to be going door to door, or that we are going to be going into schools. We are going to continue to uphold the constitutional oaths that we took as law enforcement,” said Hudak, emphasizing that Coral Gables police officers “are not ICE agents” and that the focus would be on catching criminal offenders.

Hudak, the legislative chair of the Florida Police Chiefs Association, is an influential voice in Tallahassee, where the governor and state officials have been trying to ramp up enrollment in federal immigration programs across the state.

DeSantis recently signed a bill into law that sets aside $250 million to help local police agencies with the cost of participating in the federal immigration programs.

To participate in the program, local police officers have to first go through a mandatory training program before they can be certified and authorized to perform some of the functions of federal immigration agents. Only some of Coral Gables officers will participate in the program, but Hudak declined to specify the exact number on Tuesday.

“This agreement does nothing more than give us training and the ability for reimbursable funds from the federal government through the state,” said Hudak. “It gives us the training that we have. It does not commit us to any more resources than we can actually abide by.”

Other cities in South Florida, including Davie and Key West, have already entered 287(g) agreements with ICE. Hialeah’s City Commission is evaluating a resolution Tuesday night to authorize Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo to sign the agreement for the local police department.

Coral Gables’ signing of the agreement landed weeks after the city’s police force stopped vans with nearly 50 migrants, mostly Chinese nationals, and detained seven men suspected of human smuggling.

Read more: How Coral Gables became a key end point for smuggled Chinese migrants

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Hudak referred back to the incidents with the Chinese nationals as an example of why partnerships with federal agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Investigations, are important.

“The ability to do that helps keep my community safe,” Hudak said, “because most of my criminal element does not live in Coral Gables.”

On a typical weekday in Coral Gables, crews of hired landscapers drive into the city to help homeowners maintain the aesthetic standards. And before officials addressed the immigration agreement at Tuesday’s meeting, Coral Gables’ Landscape Beautification Advisory Board handed out its annual “beautification awards” which recognized homeowners for their “outstanding efforts in landscape aesthetics.”

Many of Miami-Dade’s outdoor laborers, including landscapers, farmhands and construction workers, are foreign-born. Many have temporary work permits or are working under the table.

Speaking to reporters, Hudak said police would not be targeting landscapers.

“I don’t see us going out and checking on gardeners and things like that,” Hudak said. “That’s not something I’m gonna allow our people to do.”

Task Force model

Local law enforcement agencies can enroll in one of three 287(g) models. Like dozens of other Florida jurisdictions, the Coral Gables police department opted into the Task Force Model, which allows police officers to conduct immigration enforcement functions during routine work. ICE describes the model as a “force multiplier.”

READ MORE: Hialeah, a city of immigrants, is set to have its cops take on immigration enforcement

The Obama administration shut down a version of the task force model in 2012 over racial profiling and oversight concerns, but Trump brought it back into operation last month.

On Tuesday, advocates, business owners, and leaders from Coral Gables as well as Democratic officials gathered outside of the city’s public safety building. They said they are concerned that the immigration agreements would deviate personnel and resources from community policing and erode residents’ trust in law enforcement. Some called on the agreement to be rescinded altogether.

“This is not just a policy failure, it’s a moral failure,” said Pastor Laurie Hafner of Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ. “Our city should be a place of inclusion and community, not one of fear and division. No one should hesitate to report a crime, take their child to school, or seek medical care because they are afraid their local police are working with ICE.”

Mitchell Kaplan, owner of the Books & Books chain, which has its main store in the Gables, said that introducing “programs that create fear” would drive away workers and disrupt daily life.

“That is not good for business, and that is not good for Coral Gables,” he said.

Other residents, including a retired FBI agent, argued at the city commission meeting that the policy would ultimately end up costing taxpayers.

“This is a choice. It’s one with huge legal and financial consequences that this city will have to bear,” said Alana Greer, a third-generation Coral Gables resident and an attorney.

Juan Cuba, a longtime immigration advocate, said that local police departments were under “difficult political pressures” from the state and federal governments. He emphasized that the agreement has the potential to “tear our communities apart.”

“We think Coral Gables police should be focused on public safety of the community, not on enforcing immigration, doing the job of ICE and the Trump deportation machine,” Cuba added. “What’s happening right now is the Trump administration is building out their network for mass deportations, and I don’t think the City Beautiful... should be part of that system.”

Hudak addressed concerns that the 287(g) programs could discourage immigrants from coming forward to report crimes, and he defended his department’s record protecting victims and witnesses. He said that he had faith that his officers would not profile people based on race and ethnicity, and that the agreement would not affect their staffing levels and that any cost burdens would not fall on taxpayers.

“As the chief, I want everybody, whether they’re here legally or illegally, to call 911 and let us know if they see something, say something,” Hudak said. “It’s the reason why we were able to save the lives of the Chinese people that were smuggled here.”

‘Not be hunting people down’

The immigration agreement puts a small, municipal government that represents a city of about 50,000 residents, where nearly 40% are foreign-born and over half are Hispanic, in the cross-hairs of the national debate on immigration enforcement.

Hudak said the city’s top administrators, City Manager Alberto Parjus and City Attorney Cristina Suarez, were consulted before he signed the document, and Suarez confirmed in an email Tuesday that approval from the commission “was not legally required.”

It didn’t appear to be a major issue for city officials that the agreement had already been signed.

“At the end of the day, I have the utmost faith in the chief,” Gables Mayor Vince Lago said Tuesday. “I don’t think he did it with any mal-intent.”

Commissioner Melissa Castro said she was not briefed before the chief signed the agreement, and that she learned about it Monday when she began getting phone calls about it.

But she said she trusts that Hudak followed the rules, even though she feels the community could have benefited if the agreement had come to the commission before its signing so residents could offer feedback. One of her main concerns with the agreement is the possibility of racial profiling.

“You know, if there’s an immigrant that is afraid to call the police when something is happening to them and they’re a victim, and then for them not to be able to do that — it’s heartbreaking,” Castro said. She added, however, that Hudak addressed those concerns.

Lago said the purpose of the legislation is to ensure that people who have committed serious crimes like rape and murder are “removed” from the country if they entered illegally. He emphasized that the goal is to protect Coral Gables residents.

“At the end of the day,” Lago said, “we will not be hunting people down in this community.”

This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 8:18 PM.