As mayors in some parts of the country are demanding greater transparency from federal immigration enforcement following reports of aggressive arrests, Orange County mayor Jerry Demings argued Tuesday that county officials don’t really have the power to address these concerns themselves. That’s despite growing pressure for them to do so.
“The resolution to this issue is not in these chambers, it is somewhere else,” Demings stated bluntly in response to public criticism from local rights advocates. “If there’s a complaint about how these individuals are doing their business, if they’re violating rights, I believe that the appropriate venue for those types of complaints is either with the federal government, with the state or the courts — not the Orange County Commission.”
Demings, a former sheriff and Democratic mayor governing in a Republican-controlled state, was placed on the hot seat during a county board meeting Tuesday by advocates with the Immigrants Are Welcome Here Coalition, made up of 64 local legal aid, social advocacy and labor organizations and 140 faith leaders…