Two men face possible deportation
Both undocumented residents live in Polk
Two longtime undocumented residents of Polk County are facing deportation because both were caught driving without a license.
The men, Mexican immigrants, were detained after separate vehicle stops by Polk County deputies for a broken tail light and for not wearing a seat belt.
“We want to make sure this is being done appropriately and want to discourage ICE from breaking up families whenever possible — especially when there was no major crimes committed [by the detainees],” said U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, whose office is providing assistance to one of the men’s families.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd defended his office’s policy of informing ICE of any non-citizens held in their jail.
“We are extremely proactive in reporting and detaining upon request of ICE,” Judd said. “I am shocked and mortified at law enforcement agencies who aren’t following the law like we are. We didn’t create the law. We don’t get to interpret laws. Our job is to enforce the law.”
Hearings for the men, scheduled for next week, are coming just after a Florida crackdown by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in which 76 undocumented immigrants were arrested and detained, including 11 in Orange County.
Most were wanted on serious criminal charges, but some had similar nonviolent offenses as the two Polk men, both arrested in December.
According to Polk jail records, Gonzalo Lopez-Ramos, 35, was stopped on Dec. 9 outside Winter Haven after a
Continued from Page A1 deputy noticed his brake lights weren’t working. He was arrested for driving with an expired driver’s license, his second such arrest since it expired in 2006.
He was released with a citation to appear in court on Jan. 11. On Jan. 29, ICE requested a transfer to its custody, and Lopez-Ramos is currently being detained at the federal Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, awaiting his preliminary hearing next Friday. His attorney, Joe Lackey, said he has been in the country since 1995.
Ivan Jimenez-Morales, 25, was arrested in Polk County on Dec. 28 after a deputy saw he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. He was charged with driving without a license, his third such arrest, and was transferred to ICE custody on Feb. 11. Jimenez-Morales had already completed 20 days of his 30-day community service sentence for a previous drivers license charge.
“Polk County made sure they got their pound of flesh out of this guy,” said Lackey, who is representing both men. He said Jimenez-Morales has been in the country since the early 2000s. His hearing is on Thursday.
Lackey plans to argue that the two men fit the requirements to be allowed to stay, including living here for more than 10 years, having “good moral character” and that deportation would cause a hardship for their families.
The Rev. Terri Seitz of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lake Wales said parishioners are helping with rent and food for Lopez-Ramos’ wife and three children.
“Everyone right now is living in fear,” Seitz said. “These people are not documented, but they’re working, they’re not doing anything criminal, and they consistently provide for their families.”
The church reached out to Soto’s office. JimenezMorales and his family have not yet reached out to Soto, a staffer said.
Soto said the order signed by President Trump tripling the number of ICE agents and the move to strengthen a program allowing local and state officers to perform ICE actions makes him “deeply concerned about our economy and civil rights.”
“Tourism and agriculture are the top two industries in Polk and Central Florida, and when they’re getting more aggressive and breaking up families and coming for agricultural workers, it’s bad for the overall economy in Central Florida,” Soto said.
Lackey said ICE and law enforcement agencies that work with them have been cracking down by “using driver’s licenses and their inability to get one as a tool,” especially after Florida’s adoption of the federal Real ID Act that requires in-person renewals. The requirement also adds a gold star in the righthand corner of new licenses.
“If an officer sees you don’t have a yellow star in the upper corner, they start asking questions,” Lackey said.
Sheriff ’s offices and corrections departments have varying policies when it comes to cooperating with ICE. Some former “sanctuary” counties, like Miami-Dade, would only hold detainees if ICE reimbursed the county for the cost, a policy recently reversed by its mayor.
Osceola contacts federal authorities if an inmate has an ICE detainer on file, a corrections spokeswoman said, as does Seminole. Orange and Lake counties did not respond to questions about their policies.
Polk sends a daily list from its jail database of everyone they book who is classified as a foreignborn, non-U.S. citizen.
Judd said undocumented residents not committing crimes are “not on our radar.”
“Work hard, put your kids in school, go to church on Sunday, don’t violate the law, and we’re not going to touch you here,” Judd said. “And we’re going to lobby hard for the federal government to give you a path to legalization and a path to citizenship.”
The lawyer for the men plans to argue that the they fit the requirements to be allowed to stay, including living here for more than 10 years, having “good moral character” and that deportation would cause a hardship for their families.