Attorney General James Uthmeier says Fort Myers made itself a sanctuary city by rejecting an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In a letter to city leaders, he said the Council now risks suspension from office.

“Sanctuary policies are not tolerated or lawful in Florida,” Uthmeier wrote in a letter to Fort Myers City Council members. “Failure to correct the Council’s actions will result in the enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including but not limited to being held in contempt, declaratory or injunctive relief, and removal from office by the Governor.”

The missive from the state’s top legal officer came a day after the City Council split 3-3 on approving a 287(g) agreement with ICE. Such agreements grant local law enforcement the authority to perform specific immigration officer functions under federal direction and oversight.

The city negotiated a deal with the federal agency after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation requiring state law enforcement coordinate with the federal government on implementing immigration laws.

Uthmeier’s letter also alludes to a ban on sanctuary cities signed by DeSantis during his first year in office. Critics at the time noted Florida had no sanctuary cities when the state banned them. But Uthmeier said if Fort Myers refuses to comply with requirements to cooperate with ICE, that would make the municipality fall within the parameters outlined in state law.

“Prohibiting city police officers from receiving the necessary federal training to adequately enforce U.S. immigration laws not only prevents city police from enforcing current federal immigration law but effectively prevents the city police department from participating in federal immigration operations.”

Uthmeier’s letter came hours after U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican representing Fort Myers in Congress, publicly called for the removal of Fort Myers City Council members who struck down the agreement.

Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass, a Republican, also said City Council members were violating the law and risking suspension. He sent an email on Tuesday to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Lee County Port Authority calling for those agencies to ensure immigration laws were being enforced by local authorities even if Fort Myers would not comply with the law.

“The county has been doing it,” Pendergrass said. His email, he said, was to let county law enforcement know the Lee County Commission “support 100%” that policy throughout Lee County.

“LCSO does have countywide authority and will utilize it,” Pendergrass said. “Any inmate coming into jail from any agency will be processed under the federal guidelines.”

Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson, who voted for the agreement, said he had seen the letter.

“I am in receipt of the AG’s letter and am working with City Manager and City Attorney to correct the matter,” Anderson told Florida Politics. “While I do not want to see the removal I would have no choice to support the decision if so made.”

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Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

Sen. Clay Yarborough’s proposal to fix a long-standing gap in state law that penalizes certain survivors of deaths at the hands of negligent doctors continues to move.

The Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services is the latest panel to advance SB 734, which Yarborough calls a “clean repeal” of a state statute prohibiting adult children and their parents from collecting negligence and non-economic “pain and suffering” damages for medical malpractice.

Yarborough says the current state of play “singled out a narrow group of survivors who cannot recover non-economic damages in the case of a wrongful death due to medical negligence, even though the same damages can be recovered by survivors for a wrongful death that is caused by all other forms of negligence.”

Florida is the only state in the nation with the restriction on its books. Lawmakers passed it in 1990 when the state was trying to rein in increasing medical malpractice costs and attract more doctors to the state.

More than two dozen speakers showed up with passionate cases for or against the legislation. 

Opponents argued that medical malpractice insurance has become more expensive and difficult to procure in recent years, so the pool of claimants should not be expanded.

Andy Bolin of the Florida Justice Reform Institute said his clients “face the highest medical malpractice premiums” in the U.S. He argued that “infusing” new cases into the system would make that problem worse and suggested that if the bill goes forward, damages must be capped.

Proponents argued that survivors need the opportunity for compensation without caps. Some told their personal stories of treatment deferred with horrible consequences and no recourse, while their advocates made the larger case for change.

Read more on Florida Politics.

Evening Reads

—”‘Move fast’: Inside team Donald Trump’s furious defiance of the courts” via Andrew Perez and Asawin Suebsaeng of Rolling Stone

—”Trump discussion with Vladimir Putin to focus on what Ukraine will lose” via David E. Sanger of The New York Times

—”IRS retreats from some audits as agency slashes workforce” via Richard Rubin and Ashlea Ebeling of The Wall Street Journal

—”Democrats had a chance to take a stand here. What went wrong?” via Mary Harris of Slate

—“The growing legend of the missing Oval Office ivy” via Maura Judkis of The Washington Post

—”The political fight of the century” via Derek Thompson of The Atlantic

—“‘Fearless conservative’: Florida delegation leader Vern Buchanan backs Byron Donalds for Governor” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics

—“Were companies ever serious about DEI?” via Jonquilyn Hill of Vox

—”Want to buy the Tampa Bay Rays? Get in line” via Colleen Wright, Rebecca Liebson, Juan Carlos Chavez and Jack Prator of the Tampa Bay Times

—”A Gators 1st, Walter Clayton becomes No. 1 seed Florida’s 1st AP 1st-team All-American” via Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel