As RedState reported, the Fort Myers, Florida, City Council scheduled a Monday vote to approve Agreement 287(g). This would have allowed the Fort Myers Police Department to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the enforcement of immigration laws and facilitation in the arrest and repatriation of illegal immigrants.
The council got into a heated debate and ended with a deadlocked vote of 3-3. The three dissenting council members, one of them a self-proclaimed immigrant, held hands, cried, and bemoaned the situation they were being placed in: forced to vote on what they perceived as an agreement that would only fuel hate and cause illegal immigrants to be hunted down. One councilmember, Darla Bonk cried that, “my city’s not for sale!”
Five days later, it appears that Fort Myers is indeed for sale. On Friday, the City Council held a special meeting to reconsider Agreement 287(g). This was after a Tuesday letter from the FL Attorney General James Uthmeier was sent to the council to reconsider their vote. The gist: get your act together or have your state funding cut off. Not to mention the council would be subject to civil and criminal penalties, potentially be held in contempt of court, and Gov. Ron DeSantis could remove them from their positions.
Gov. DeSantis also expressed his displeasure, issuing a statement in part, “Florida will ensure its laws are followed, and when it comes to immigration—the days of inaction are over. Govern yourselves accordingly.”
It’s amazing how time, and some added pressure, can clarify the mind. On Friday, the vote was unanimous to adopt Agreement 287(g) between the Fort Myers Police Department and the ICE.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Fort Myers City Council caves to state legal pressure, adopts 287(g) agreement via the Fort Myers Police Department to assist with immigration law
The vote was unanimous pic.twitter.com/Yl7zgyFWKi
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) March 21, 2025
The Fort Myers City Council reconvened a special meeting Friday and passed a plan to bring the city’s police department into an agreement with the Trump’s administration that would train officers to assist in enforcing immigration law.
The emergency city council meeting was held after the plan was met with a deadlocked vote of 3-3. The city council passed the resolution Friday with a unanimous vote.
The 287(g) agreement, entered into by all 67 of Florida’s county sheriffs and joined by state-level agencies, provides training to personnel and enhances cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ultimately deport illegal aliens more smoothly and rapidly.
Florida and 15 other states have the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) setting up shop across their regions. The cooperation agreements are part of the effort to mitigate and expunge the TdA scourge and their networks from the United States. Despite the public being informed and aware, during the meeting’s public comment portion, dissenters to the agreement invoked the spectre of “Nazi Germany” in the tactics being used to remove criminal illegals from their midst.
JUST IN: During Fort Myers City Council meeting, speaker invokes “N*zi Germany” when discussing the sort of training techniques required for police to be able to identify illegal aliens under the 287(g) agreement pic.twitter.com/nj0YaP99lC
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) March 21, 2025
The three wobbly council members were still triggered, but ultimately did the right thing. Apparently, they didn’t look forward to facing the potential penalties they could suffer if they continued to resist. Bonk, who said her family had been subjected to death threats, blamed the city attorney “for being ill informed about the legal implications of rejecting the 287(g) agreement.”
What a lame argument. As a councilmember who has oversight and power in the affairs of your city, it is your job to be as informed as possible about the ramifications of your vote. This is a reflection of the entitled and lazy attitude exhibited by the people who run for these seats. It is also a reflection on the citizens of Fort Myers for not choosing their leaders wisely.
