[slide-left]Be a Justice Voter in Miami-Dade County[/slide-left]
[slide-left]Local government manages so many aspects of our daily lives. Decisions made at the state, county, and city level directly affect you and your community – sometimes even more than federal policies. Policy and budgetary decisions are made everyday on things like education, safety, health care, transportation, and housing. [/slide-left]
[slide-left]That’s why it’s important for you to be an ACLU Justice Voter in Miami-Dade County County. [/slide-left]
Why Miami-Dade County?
The outcome of the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s race will have far-reaching impacts on the people of Miami. Miami-Dade’s mayor will be faced with choices on police accountability, immigrants’ rights and how to spend the county’s $9 billion budget.
Police Accountability
People trust the police to keep their community safe and treat everyone fairly. Officers should be held accountable when they break that trust. Miami Dade County used to have an independent civilian panel to oversee the sheriff’s office, but it was defunded in 2009. After much debate, the county commission reinstated an independent civilian panel, but did not give it the power to issue subpoenas. Miami-Dade’s next mayor will play an instrumental role in implementing the independent civilian panel and ultimately will influence whether the panel provides effective oversight.
Miami-Dade Jail Expansion
Miami-Dade is planning to construct a new detention facility, despite continued reductions in the crime rate and a growing awareness that mass incarceration is ineffective at keeping communities safe. The next mayor will propose budgets - and have veto power - that decide how much Miami Dade invests in supporting families and preventing crime and how much it spends to warehouse people.
Protecting Immigrant Communities
Immigrants make Miami a more vibrant place to live, work, and raise a family. They contribute millions of dollars to the local economy. But, recent local and state policies have required the county to process federal detainers, holding people in jail for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain and deport them no questions asked while local folks bear the financial burden. The next mayor can either recommit to being a tool of the federal deportation machine or provide safeguards for Miami’s immigrant communities to ensure our families can live without the fear they will be separated arbitrarily.
Protecting Public Health
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens all our communities. When immigrants are left unprotected, that puts us all at risk. Miami-Dade’s next mayor can ensure everyone has access to COVID-19 testing.
Ensuring Equitable Access to the Polls
Miami-Dade rejects vote-by-mail ballots more often than most counties. Many of these ballots are rejected because voters missed the deadline, failed to sign the ballot or made other similar simple mistakes - all issues that could be improved by great public education programs by the Department of Elections. Miami-Dade’s next mayor will play a pivotal role in deciding how much the county spends on local election administration.
Protecting Homeless Miamians
Miami has a history of criminalizing and targeting homeless individuals by criminalizing requests for charity, raiding homeless encampments, legislating certain offenders into homelessness through residency restrictions, and throwing away belongings. Miami-Dade’s next mayor will have the power to veto such legislation.