OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office held an immigration town hall at Gateway High School in Kissimmee on Thursday. Their goal was to inform the community about new laws and put certain concerns to rest. 

Sweeping immigration laws, not only federally, but in Florida, have drawn concerns from those with uncertain immigration statuses.

“The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office is focused on maintaining the safety of our community and we’re still focused on the criminal element,” Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said. “We will just be more proactive about addressing immigration issues when a person is arrested.”

Sheriff Lopez said his office will assist the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to address immigration issues.

As part of Florida’s 287(g) task force, deputies will be trained by the Department of Homeland Security to handle civil immigration detainers on criminal suspects. That has yet to happen.

While deputies have new expectations, Lopez wants residents to know their job isn’t to actively search for people here illegally in places like churches or schools.

“That’s just something that we’re not going to do. There’s no reason for us to be in the schools,” Lopez said. “That’s something that is a state issue. The superintendent from the schools, I don’t know if they’re going to get directives, but as of right now, we have not been told to go into these locations to try to find immigrants and deport them.”

It’s a decree that the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida President Jorge Figueroa says may ease the minds of those that may be afraid to leave their homes.

“We know that the local law enforcement agencies are on our side,” shared Figueroa. “They’re not looking to perform ICE jobs or the purpose of detaining immigrants or identifying or knocking on doors, et cetera.” 

And while Figueroa feels a lot of factors played into the lack of community turnout, he can’t help but think that fear of the unknown played a role.

“If we put ourselves in an immigrant’s shoes, I mean, I’ll be scared to come here. I don’t know if this was a trap,” Figueroa said.

Lopez pointed to his office’s work busting drug traffickers and cracking down on sex trafficking as opportunities to arrest and report illegal criminals involved, as examples of how their police work leads to them enforcing state laws.

Lopez does not want people to be afraid to leave their homes and says that these new immigration laws will not change how they do their jobs and won’t cost any extra money to enforce.

He said their goal is to continue to enforce the law and if someone arrested is here illegally, then they will report it to ICE.