Key West Immigrant Support Network calls for national attention to state intimidation tactics against local leaders

KEY WEST, FL — Just days after the Key West City Commission voted to end a voluntary agreement that deputized local police to assist ICE under the 287(g) program, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued a formal threat demanding the Commission reverse its decision—or face political consequences.

In response to mounting state pressure, including the threat of removing elected officials from office, the Commission has called a special meeting on Tuesday, July 8, to consider rescinding the resolution.

The original resolution, authored by Commissioner Monica Haskell, did not violate any federal or state law. It simply ended Key West’s voluntary participation in a program that many say has led to racial profiling, detention without cause, and a severe erosion of public trust. Local immigration attorneys have confirmed that detained residents with active asylum claims are being removed from the community and sent to distant detention centers—often without clear justification or due process.

“This isn’t about breaking the law—this is about refusing to be complicit in cruelty,” said Lucy Hawk, Founding Member of the Key West Immigrant Support Network. “The City Commission made a brave and necessary decision. Now the Attorney General is using intimidation tactics to try and undo it. This is political bullying—not governance.”

The 287(g) agreement was quietly signed by the Key West Police Department earlier this year, without public input or a vote from the Commission. The community only learned of the agreement after residents began seeing KWPD officers conducting traffic stops with ICE agents, often targeting individuals on bicycles or on their way to work.

Hawk added, “Our police should be focused on public safety—not doing ICE’s job for them. It’s not what we pay them for, and it’s not who we are. The fact that the AG is threatening removal from office for doing what’s right is shocking.”

The Key West Immigrant Support Network is calling on the national press, civil liberties groups, and immigrant justice organizations to shine a spotlight on this rapidly escalating situation—and to stand in solidarity with a small island city fighting to protect its community.

The special meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 8, at 5:00 PM at Key West City Hall. The public is expected to fill the chambers in defense of the Commission’s original decision—and to demand they hold the line.

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