Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryFebruary 6, 2018

Sanctuary cities have become another flashpoint in the heated political battle otherwise known as the House District 72 special election. In this latest salvo, Republican James Buchanan says Democrat Margaret Good has been less than straightforward in her opinion about the issue. Pressed on where she stood on the issue during a candidates forum Monday […]

Scott PowersJanuary 31, 2018

The barbs, insults, and accusations over immigration and sanctuary cities traded by House Speaker and presumed Republican gubernatorial pre-candidate Richard Corcoran and Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum have turned into a Twitter offer from Corcoran to debate — and Gillum has accepted. “If it weren’t for the criminal safe havens that @AndrewGillum […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 17, 2018

Saying they’re tired of Congress punting on the issue, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, joined by the acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced a new agreement under which 17 local jails in Florida will hold undocumented immigrants for 48 hours after the inmate has posted bail to give federal agents time to […]

Mitch PerryAugust 22, 2017

Bob Gualtieri is growing frustrated with the federal government’s slow progress on illegal immigration. After the Pinellas County Sheriff spent months working with members of the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security on a plan that would allow sheriff departments to detain undocumented immigrants legally for deportation, Gualtieri says no program has yet […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 4, 2017

Although St. Petersburg isn’t officially classified as a sanctuary city, Mayor Rick Kriseman all but declared that’s exactly what his town is on Saturday. And if the Trump administration wants to deny the city federal funds because of that stance, the mayor’s response is essentially, ‘We’ll see you in court.’ “While our county sheriff’s office is ultimately responsible […]

Mitch PerryNovember 16, 2016

With Donald Trump soon to begin working with a Republican Congress in January, mayors and police chiefs from around the country pushed back this week on immigration issues, specifically saying they would not cooperate with federal efforts to round up undocumented immigrants in their communities. That’s upsetting to Vern Buchanan, who says it’s time to end federal funding to […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 11, 2016

Along with lawmakers, lobbyists and journalists who are back in Tallahassee this week for the beginning of the 2016 Legislative Session will be immigration activists, concerned about a number of bills being proposed this session. Two busloads of activists are scheduled to depart from Tampa and Homestead on Monday, with two more scheduled to depart from Polk County […]

Mitch PerryJuly 20, 2015

Good morning, everyone. Not to start the week off on a rough note, but can we reflect for a moment on what happened at those two military sites in Chattanooga last Thursday? As we all know by now, a naturalized citizen from Kuwait ended up killing four U.S. Marines and one sailor and wounded two others. […]

Mitch PerryJuly 8, 2015

The furor over Donald Trump‘s comments about Mexican immigrants shows no sign of diminishing with ESPN deciding Tuesday to pull its charity golf tournament from his Southern California course . It’s been a very rough week for the celebrity/businessman/GOP presidential candidate, with major corporations such as Macy’s, NBC and Univision cutting ties with him in the wake of […]

Tag: Kate Steinle

Sanctuary cities become latest flashpoint in heated HD 72 special election

Andrew Gillum accepts Richard Corcoran’s Twitter debate offer

ICE, Florida counties strike deal on new immigrant detention policy

Bob Gualtieri ‘very frustrated’ by federal foot-dragging on undocumented immigrants

Rick Kriseman declares St. Petersburg a ‘sanctuary from harmful immigration laws’

Vern Buchanan says it’s time to stop federal funding of ‘sanctuary cities’

Immigration activists to descend upon Tallahassee this week

Mitch Perry Report for 7.20.15 – Chattanooga is the latest mass killing in U.S.

Mitch Perry Report for 7.8.15 — Could Francisco Sanchez become 2016’s Willie Horton?