WPB employees can give immigration info

Memo aims to settle dispute with Washington

West Palm Beach city employees are free to share information — including a person’s citizenship status — with federal immigration agents, according to a memo sent Tuesday to settle a legal dispute with the Trump administration.

The city agreed to distribute the memo to its employees to resolve claims that it has policies protecting undocumented immigrants.

West Palm Beach was one of 23 jurisdictions targeted by the Justice Department earlier this year in its crackdown on “sanctuary” cities and counties. The city responded by filing a lawsuit asking a federal judge to uphold its policies.

Both the city and the Justice Department claimed victory Tuesday.

In a statement, the Justice Department hailed the settlement as a win in its efforts to ensure cities and counties fully cooperate with federal immigration agents.

“West Palm Beach is instructing its employees to cooperate with ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] in order to avoid a loss in the courts,” the Justice Department’s statement said.

West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio said that’s not true. She said the city’s policies have always been in compliance, and the memo only reiterated that the city would share information if required by law.

“They have promulgated a set of lies that do not reflect our discussions with them,” Muoio said. “I am deeply disappointed because we worked with them in good faith.”

As part of the settlement, the federal government deemed the city to be in compliance, meaning it would not risk losing federal grant dollars.

Last year, West Palm Beach adopted a “welcoming city” resolution that instructed city employees not to inquire about a person’s immigration status or share it with others unless specifically required by federal law.

The memo sent Tuesday reads: “All personnel are reminded that you may share — and it is consistent with City Resolution 112-17 and federal law to share — with federal authorities, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, any and all information, including information regarding citizenship and immigration status, to which you have access or knowledge as a result of the performance of your job duties for the City of West Palm Beach, regarding any individual.”

Justice officials said cities need to show they are in compliance with immigration laws to be eligible for grants that pay for everything from bulletproof vests to police officer overtime.

Muoio said the city settled not because it feared it would lose in court, but instead, to ensure it would continue to receive federal funding. The resolution was adopted to ensure residents were comfortable contacting police and other departments in city government, she said.

One of the federal grant programs — the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant — provided more than $400,000 to the West Palm Beach Police Department over the past five years.

Elizabeth Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said she thinks the city was on firm legal ground and should have fought the Justice Department in court. Cities are right to instruct their employees to only turn over immigration information if they receive a warrant because anything less could make it easier for immigration officers to conduct “fishing expeditions,” she said.

“This is a real travesty,” Fernandez said. “It shows how the Department of Justice is bullying municipalities in horrible ways. Welcoming resolutions like this help people feel safe. It lets people who work for those municipalities know we need to treat everyone equally.”

Other cities targeted by the Justice Department included New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Muoio said she still considers West Palm Beach to be a city that is welcoming to immigrants.

“In this climate we are in, anybody who does not have legal status is worried,” she said. “Every day we see people who are sent back to their countries, but that is done by the federal government. It’s not done by the city government.”

sswisher@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher