Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings wrote a letter to the U.S. Marshals Service on Monday, asking the feds to fully reimburse the county for the cost of jailing people who have been detained on immigration charges on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency.
According to Mayor Demings, compliance with federal immigration enforcement has already cost county taxpayers more than $333,000 and counting. The county, like other jail operators in Florida, has an agreement with ICE, known as an intergovernmental services agreement, that allows ICE officers to detain federal inmates in Orange County Jail temporarily who are allegedly in the country illegally.
The U.S. Marshals Service, however, is not fully reimbursing the cost for doing so. While the cost of detaining a person is roughly $180 per person, per day, county officials say the feds are only reimbursing the county $88 per person, leaving local taxpayers on the hook for the rest…