Demings extends deadline for renegotiating ICE agreement, blames government shutdown

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings Credit: Photo via Twitter/Jerry Demings

Orange County taxpayers will continue to foot a hefty bill for detaining immigrants in the Orange County Jail on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, since it appears little headway has been made on negotiating a higher reimbursement rate.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, a Democrat and former county sheriff currently running for Florida governor, announced Wednesday that county and federal officials failed to meet Demings’ deadline of March 31 to negotiate higher reimbursement for temporarily holding ICE detainees in the local jail. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Demings blamed the lack of progress, in part, on the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security (the parent agency of ICE) that began Feb. 14.

“It appears that because of the partial federal government shutdown, perhaps they’re not where they need to be on making a decision,” Demings said, according to the Sentinel. “The ball’s in their court now. We hope to hear from them soon about the reimbursement rate.”

Under an agreement between Orange County and ICE, the federal government is currently reimbursing the county $88 per day, per person, to hold ICE detainees in the jail for up to 72 hours. County officials say, however, that the actual cost of detention is $180 per person, effectively leaving the county — and taxpayers — on the hook for more than half the actual cost. Local immigrant rights advocates have also forced the county to admit that some people are being detained for more than 72 hours, or otherwise are being cycled in and out of the jail, in an apparent violation of the county’s agreement.

“It’s disturbing to see such a high-stakes matter being handled without a sense of urgency,” said Ericka Gomez-Tejeda, organizing director of the Hope CommUnity Center, in a text to Orlando Weekly in response to the extension. She also serves as a coordinator for the Immigrants Are Welcome Here Coalition, a coalition of over 60 organizations and faith leaders in Central Florida.

“Mayor Demings keeps extending the negotiation timeline, this time without a deadline,” she noted. “Meanwhile, we are working to help people unjustly detained and facing deportation who don’t have the luxury of playing it by ear and taking it easy. For them, it is really a matter of life or death.”

“It is really a matter of life or death.”
Ericka Gomez-Tejeda, organizing director of the Hope CommUnity Center

The number of people held in Orange County Jail on behalf of ICE rose from 550 in October 2025 to 1,849 in January 2026, according to a February presentation from the county corrections department, but dipped again the following month. On average, more than one-third of the daily population of those held in jail on behalf of ICE in January had no other local criminal or civil charge pending against them.

Despite allegations of human rights violations and violations of due process at the jail (which the county has denied), the financial cost of incarcerating people on behalf of ICE has been the greatest motivating factor for change. Recall, this is occurring in a state where options to end cooperation with ICE are limited under state law.

Frustrated with the cost disparity, Demings sent a letter to the U.S. Marshals Service (the handler of the county’s agreement with ICE) in mid-February, informing them that the county would end negotiations and consider “future options,” including the termination of their agreement, if the agency failed to negotiate a higher reimbursement rate by March 13.

After “receiving a prompt response” from the federal agency, and an extension request, Demings shortly after agreed to extend negotiations through March 31.

This makes this the second time Demings has extended the county’s arbitrary deadline, while seemingly offering no consequences for the lack of progress. The county first contacted the U.S. Marshals Service to increase the reimbursement rate in August, more than six months ago. As of December, the disparity between the actual and reimbursed cost has cost the county over $300,000.

“Even while conservative sheriffs from around the state are calling for change in immigration enforcement and jail detentions, Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings continues extending deadlines for ICE,” the Immigrants Are Welcome Coalition wrote in a statement posted to Facebook.

The group is referring to a number of Republican Florida Sheriffs on the state Immigration Enforcement Council who offered criticism of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts (to which their local law enforcement agencies are vital for carrying through).

“While Congress sits on their hands and does nothing about this, we are on the ground floor with this day in and day out — looking in the eyes of these folks that, yes, came here inappropriately. But some came here inappropriately only to do better for themselves and their family,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a March 16 state Immigration Enforcement Council meeting.

According to a county spokesperson, the board of Orange County commissioners can expect to receive an update on the results of the county’s negotiations with ICE during their April 21 board meeting.