ACLU Florida urges U.S. leaders to end 287(g) deportation program Collier uses » marconews.com Mobile
In a letter to state-based politicians Friday, the ACLU of Florida urged an end to a controversial immigration enforcement policy in which Collier County participates. Under scrutiny is the 287(g) policy, set to expire at year’s end, that allows local police to act as immigration enforcers. The program “does not belong anywhere in Florida,” said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida executive director, in a letter to Florida’s U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat, along with outgoing Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers, and several other state and local officials. Rubio and Nelson weren’t immediately available for comment Friday; Mack’s office declined comment. The ACLU contends the policy leads to racial profiling and “generating fear and a marked mistrust of police among both documented and undocumented individuals in the Latino community.”