Key West city commission votes 6-1 to void its immigration enforcement agreement with ICE
By Julia Cooper
June 30, 2025 at 10:33 PM EDT
Responding to an outcry of business owners, church leaders and local residents, the Key West City Commission on Monday night cancelled the city’s agreement to allow local police to assist federal immigration agents in apprehending suspected undocumented immigrants.
During the special meeting, dozens of community members packed into the city hall chamber — each there to speak against an agreement that deputizes local police officers and gives them training and authority by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce federal immigration laws.
“ We are at one of those pivotal moments in history where we can choose to stand up, speak truth to power, and draw a line in the sand,” said Heather Slivko-Bathurst, a Key West resident and Vice President of the Key West Immigrant Support Network, which led the opposition. “ICE may be here, but we do not have to go over and above our obligation to assist them.”
READ MORE: Key West business owners, church leaders say ICE stirs fears with local arrests of legal immigrants
After just shy of two hours of public comment, commissioners voted 6-1 to pass a resolution that makes the Key West Police Department’s 287(g) agreement “void and unenforceable.”
The agreement was put in place by the city’s chief of police Sean Brandenburg with City Manager Brian Barrosso’s knowledge, but not the approval of city commissioners.
That — according to City Attorney Kendal Harden — likely makes the 287(g) agreement void.
“ People who are seeking political asylum are important members of our community,” said Commissioner Samuel Kaufman. “We have thousands of them here, by the way. And they deserve the respect that anybody else does.”
Chief Brandenburg signed the agreement after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier argued that cities not signing an agreement with ICE violates the state’s ban on so-called sanctuary cities.
Uthmeier has previously threatened city officials in Fort Myers in a letter with removal from office after voting against participation in the ICE program.
“ I was advised that the governor had laid out exactly how he could now remove a police chief from office if we did not enter into a 287(g) agreement,” Chief Brandenburg said during Monday’s special meeting.
“This obviously made this situation more urgent for me. I found the most up-to-date version of the [agreement] and brought it to (the) legal (department) for approval.”
“I came here tonight with a gun to my head, prepared to go against the resolution,” said Commissioner Donald “Donie” Lee. “I think the Chief of Police signed that agreement with a gun to his head; threatened to do it…it was a federal overreach then, it’s a federal and state overreach now.”
The resolution passed by Key West commissioners also instructs the chief to not enter any more agreements until a lawsuit filed by the city of South Miami that seeks to clarify that only county jail systems— not cities are required by Florida law to enter 287(g) agreements.
READ MORE: South Miami mayor worries working with ICE could lead to financial liability
The 287(g) program, run by ICE, is a decades-old program that has been revived and expanded under the Trump administration. It trains local law officers to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.
Supporters of the 287(g) agreements say it’s needed to assist the Trump administration's efforts to remove immigrants unlawfully in the country who are committing crimes and or accessing limited taxpayer resources that are needed for U.S. citizens or lawful immigrants.
The number of agreements to deputize local police to enforce federal immigration laws, known as 287(g) agreements, has more than quadrupled — to about 650 — since Trump took office in January.
Almost 250 police agencies across Florida have signed the agreement, including Sheriff’s offices in all 67 counties.
The 287(g) program has been strongly pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as the state lines up behind the Trump administration's aggressive deportation moves.
The Key West Immigrant Support Network, in pressing city commissioners to end the agreement with the feds, reported ICE agents were rounding up immigrants with legal U.S. residency status as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to apprehend and deport those suspected to be in the country without authorization.
The group said they reached out to U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Miami, and state Rep. Jim Mooney, R-Key Largo, with letters to alert them about the recent “surge” in enforcement activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs agents in Key West. The letters to Gimenez and Mooney were signed by hundreds of businesses, churches, and hundreds of Key West residents.
The group said ICE's actions "have instilled fear among families, deterred residents from attending religious services, shopping for basic necessities, and even sending their children to school."
During the special meeting, dozens of community members packed into the city hall chamber — each there to speak against an agreement that deputizes local police officers and gives them training and authority by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce federal immigration laws.
“ We are at one of those pivotal moments in history where we can choose to stand up, speak truth to power, and draw a line in the sand,” said Heather Slivko-Bathurst, a Key West resident and Vice President of the Key West Immigrant Support Network, which led the opposition. “ICE may be here, but we do not have to go over and above our obligation to assist them.”
READ MORE: Key West business owners, church leaders say ICE stirs fears with local arrests of legal immigrants
After just shy of two hours of public comment, commissioners voted 6-1 to pass a resolution that makes the Key West Police Department’s 287(g) agreement “void and unenforceable.”
The agreement was put in place by the city’s chief of police Sean Brandenburg with City Manager Brian Barrosso’s knowledge, but not the approval of city commissioners.
That — according to City Attorney Kendal Harden — likely makes the 287(g) agreement void.
“ People who are seeking political asylum are important members of our community,” said Commissioner Samuel Kaufman. “We have thousands of them here, by the way. And they deserve the respect that anybody else does.”
Chief Brandenburg signed the agreement after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier argued that cities not signing an agreement with ICE violates the state’s ban on so-called sanctuary cities.
Uthmeier has previously threatened city officials in Fort Myers in a letter with removal from office after voting against participation in the ICE program.
“ I was advised that the governor had laid out exactly how he could now remove a police chief from office if we did not enter into a 287(g) agreement,” Chief Brandenburg said during Monday’s special meeting.
“This obviously made this situation more urgent for me. I found the most up-to-date version of the [agreement] and brought it to (the) legal (department) for approval.”
“I came here tonight with a gun to my head, prepared to go against the resolution,” said Commissioner Donald “Donie” Lee. “I think the Chief of Police signed that agreement with a gun to his head; threatened to do it…it was a federal overreach then, it’s a federal and state overreach now.”
The resolution passed by Key West commissioners also instructs the chief to not enter any more agreements until a lawsuit filed by the city of South Miami that seeks to clarify that only county jail systems— not cities are required by Florida law to enter 287(g) agreements.
READ MORE: South Miami mayor worries working with ICE could lead to financial liability
The 287(g) program, run by ICE, is a decades-old program that has been revived and expanded under the Trump administration. It trains local law officers to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.
Supporters of the 287(g) agreements say it’s needed to assist the Trump administration's efforts to remove immigrants unlawfully in the country who are committing crimes and or accessing limited taxpayer resources that are needed for U.S. citizens or lawful immigrants.
The number of agreements to deputize local police to enforce federal immigration laws, known as 287(g) agreements, has more than quadrupled — to about 650 — since Trump took office in January.
Almost 250 police agencies across Florida have signed the agreement, including Sheriff’s offices in all 67 counties.
The 287(g) program has been strongly pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as the state lines up behind the Trump administration's aggressive deportation moves.
The Key West Immigrant Support Network, in pressing city commissioners to end the agreement with the feds, reported ICE agents were rounding up immigrants with legal U.S. residency status as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to apprehend and deport those suspected to be in the country without authorization.
The group said they reached out to U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Miami, and state Rep. Jim Mooney, R-Key Largo, with letters to alert them about the recent “surge” in enforcement activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs agents in Key West. The letters to Gimenez and Mooney were signed by hundreds of businesses, churches, and hundreds of Key West residents.
The group said ICE's actions "have instilled fear among families, deterred residents from attending religious services, shopping for basic necessities, and even sending their children to school."