It's not too common that an official steps into the lions' den by participating in a public forum organized by people with whom he or she disagrees.
Yet Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri apparently plans to do just that.
On April 7, the group Indivisible FL-13 (referring to Florida's 13th Congressional District) will hold a panel discussion organizers say will include the sheriff as well as an immigration activist and an immigration lawyer.
The focus will be on an agreement Gualtieri and 16 other sheriffs' departments in Florida forged with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this year. The new policy allows sheriff's departments to keep undocumented immigrants charged with infractions not related to violating immigration laws for up to 48 hours. That extra time, the thinking goes, would make it easier for ICE agents to pick them up for likely deportation.
Advocates for otherwise-lawful undocumented immigrants say the agreement is unconstitutional and immoral. And though the Trump administration and its supporters often accuse the bulk of undocumented immigrants of being criminals, they say such harsh policies actually encourage crime. They say the feds' targeting of immigrant communities creates a climate of fear in which individuals won't contact authorities with information about criminal activity in their neighborhoods. Plus, they say, it's cruel.
The event will take place at Allendale Methodist Church in St. Petersburg — a popular venue for progressive rallies and forums these days — on Monday, April 9 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Other panelists slated to speak are Tampa immigration attorney Mayra Calo and Isabel Sousa-Rodriguez of the Florida Immigration Coalition. WMNF host and political analyst Mitch Perry will moderate.