Punta Gorda Police Chief Pamela Smith announced that officers will receive training from ICE agents, a decision that has sparked mixed reactions within the community.
"The police chief said people should not expect officers to go around the city and round up people who may be here illegally," Smith said. "The training will be an extra tool for officers in immigration cases."
Kathleen Davis, a Punta Gorda resident who immigrated from Barbados and Venezuela, expressed her support for the training.
"We came into Miami as immigrants. And we — it was very difficult. We had a hard, hard time immigrating legally, but we were very poor for a while but it was so worth it. I love this country," Davis said.
Davis emphasized the importance of protecting the community.
"We need to make sure that our children and women are protected and men are protected from whoever comes over the border, that we have no idea who they are. I mean, they have harmed children and women. They have trafficked people, the, the foreign gangs," she said.
Chief Smith explained the purpose of the training. "If they come across somebody that might be wanted on a warrant through ICE, that they can handle that situation appropriately and well educated," Smith said.
"And if the federal government is willing to help them to be trained in this new swamping of even our county with totally undocumented people from countries where we have no idea what kind of criminal activity they're involved in, what their health status is, if they're terrorists, what the problem is. We have no, no control over that," Smith added.
Maria Lara, President of Charlotte Harbor LULAC, voiced her concerns. "I have the utmost respect for the city of, kind of board of police and the chief, and they're ensuring that certain constitutional protections will be upheld. I am, however, concerned how it will be implemented, and we'll have to just wait and see how that pans out," Lara said.
Davis also addressed fears about the police. "If people, people who fear the police, they've got to have something. Either they're doing something wrong, or they've been listening to some sort of propaganda because I've never had any reason to fear. The police have never treated us with anything but respect. They don't care about my skin color or my accent," she said.
Chief Smith assured the community that the training will not change the types of calls officers respond to and will not take police off the streets.
She noted that the training could take some time to begin, as the state starts with the Florida Highway Patrol before moving to individual departments.