After four months of debate and concerns about risks to state funding, the Alachua County Commission passed a resolution Aug. 11 opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the county.
Drafted by the Gainesville Immigrant Neighbor Inclusion Initiative, the three-page resolution expresses a commitment to ensuring all residents, regardless of immigration status, feel safe interacting with law enforcement and seeking social services. It warns against discriminatory actions by law enforcement, but does not mention ICE specifically.
The resolution also highlights concerns about the expansion of immigration enforcement in Alachua County. It urges federal immigration officers to clearly identify themselves and inform residents about the purposes of law enforcement activities.
The board voted 4-0 to sign the resolution, with Commissioner Mary Alford absent. In an Aug. 12 Facebook post, Alford wrote that she was absent from the meeting and agreed with the resolution, but believed it could bring “unwanted attention” to Alachua County.
In June, Jacob Torner, the vice president for programs at the TaskForce for Ending Homelessness, wrote to city and county officials that passing an anti-ICE resolution could cause the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to view Gainesville and Alachua County "less favorably" when awarding federal funds for local services.
The GINI proposal
Gainesville Immigrant Neighbor Inclusion Initiative’s five-point petition was first presented to the Alachua County Commission April 28 during public comment. The resolution didn’t make it to the agenda until June 23, when the commission unanimously voted to delay the decision so it could discuss it with the county attorney.
The petition was also brought to the attention of city commissioners during the public comment portion of a June 18 meeting.
During a July 16 meeting, the Gainesville City Commission voted to postpone the decision on the resolution despite over a dozen public commenters encouraging the commissioners to support it. It’s unclear when the city commission will revisit the decision.
The county’s meeting
County commissioners and staff discussed the resolution for over two hours Aug. 11, weighing potential risks to state funding, such as grants given to the city and county by the state.
Ahead of the vote, commissioners considered actions by other counties, like Orange County, which passed a similar resolution opposing current ICE operations in March to oppose a rumored ICE detention facility in east Orlando.
Alachua County Attorney Sylvia E. Torres said the state hasn’t pushed back against Orange County’s resolution, but the Florida Attorney General’s office could issue a warning to it or Alachua County for passing a resolution conflicting with state law like the 287(g) agreement.
The 287(g) agreement allows state and local law enforcement agencies to carry out immigration operations. The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office signed the agreement, while the Gainesville Police Department hasn’t.
“There’s a history of the attorney general sending out letters that say, ‘What you’ve done is not within your authority’ or that it is ‘malfeasance or misfeasance in office,’ ordering you to basically repeal the action or threatening removal from office,’” Torres said in the meeting.
However, the GPD issued a general order Aug. 27 requiring officers to report anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. The move was made to comply with state requirements, which is mandated by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
During public comment at the county’s Aug. 11 meeting, more than 10 residents and activists took to the podium to encourage commissioners to support the resolution.
Before the vote, Commission Chair Ken Cornell said he didn’t plan to support the resolution. However, after hearing public comment and support from fellow commissioners, Cornell voted in its favor. He said the non-binding resolution, which has no legal weight, would help build public trust.
Is the resolution purely symbolic?
Although the county passed a resolution publicly opposing current ICE operations, the decision doesn’t guarantee or require an end to local law enforcement cooperation with ICE.
Andrea Jacoski, a University of Miami law professor and associate director of the university’s immigration clinic, said the resolution seems to be a symbolic gesture acknowledging community concerns. It can’t supersede state and federal ICE operations in the county, she added.
“I don't actually know that passing a resolution will pull away from their obligation to actually continue to share information or effectuate ICE detainers,” Jacoski said.
ICE detainers, or immigration holds, are written notices sent by ICE to local or state law enforcement asking them to hold a person so ICE can take them into custody.
While the county’s resolution may not prevent ICE operations entirely, Jacoski said, it can build public trust and demonstrate solidarity with its immigrant communities.
“It's important, and it's good that people are recognizing that it is very harmful for our immigrant neighbors and the large immigrant population across Florida,” she said.
Community reactions
After months of discourse, Alachua County Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler said the resolution upholds the county’s responsibility to care for its residents by encouraging ICE officers to treat them fairly.
“It has very nice words put together to ask that folks here don’t wear masks and that they treat people well and that they don't profile anybody,” Wheeler said. “But again, it’s not binding, and so, more than anything, it’s an acknowledgment that there are communities being jeopardized by the tactics coming out of Washington and now out of Tallahassee.”
Wheeler added she’s done far more for immigrants than support a non-binding resolution.
In an attempt to promote binding change, Wheeler said she’s addressed community concerns like GINI’s with U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack and her team, who represent Alachua County and the surrounding area in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“[Cammack] knows that this is a topic that I'm most concerned about,” she said. “So we sat down together … and we were trying to come up with some ideas that we might be able to address the concerns of the community in a more face-to-face and direct way.”
Her relationship with Cammack began when Wheeler ran against former U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho in 2014. Cammack was his campaign manager at the time.
Wheeler looks back at her 2014 campaign for House and her platform on immigration as evidence of her decadelong support for immigrants.
She suspects the Gainesville City Commission has been waiting for the county commission’s decision to make its own about the resolution, she added.
While waiting on the city commission’s vote, she said, she’s been gathering a group of volunteers to talk with Cammack.
“What I’m trying to do is set up a meeting with those folks who were willing to go to have this discussion about what is happening,” she said, “and what we can expect in the future and how we might be helpful in trying to get some kind of immigration reform policy going.”
Having achieved the county’s approval, GINI representative Ethan Maia de Needell said the organization is now focusing its efforts on the city.
He said future work with the county will aim to make the county’s social services more accessible to the immigrant community. GINI hopes to help facilitate those efforts and hold the county accountable, he added.
“The demands in the resolution are not extreme,” he said. “They are simply a gesture of what the city prioritizes, which we hope are the constitutional rights of its residents.”
Contact Aaron Zagal Yaji at azagal@alligator.org. Follow him on X @azagalyaji.
Contact Olivia Lofaso at olofaso@alligator.org. Follow her on X @OLofaso77652.
Olivia Lofaso is a senior journalism student at UF and the Fall 2026 City and County Commission reporter, a role she previously held during the summer. She enjoys gushing about her cocker spaniels to anyone who will listen and playing the cello in her free time.
Aaron Zagal Yaji is a Public Relations and Economics freshman in his first semester at The Alligator. He covers El Caimán's metro beat. In his free time, he enjoys going to the beach (or reminiscing about it), cooking Peruvian food, and squandering his money on golden shiny things.
