 -- Lawmakers in Miami-Dade County on Friday backed the mayor's controversial decision to cooperate with the federal government in detaining jailed immigrants slated for deportation.

Citing funding threats for sanctuary jurisdictions by President Donald Trump, Miami-Dade commissioners voted 9-to-3 in favor of Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s order, which declared that Miami-Dade "has never been a sanctuary community," according to a statement.

The commissioners stood behind Gimenez despite listening to scores of residents who spent the day at County Hall hoping to persuade them to help protect Miami-Dade’s immigrant identity.

Miami-Dade is the only U.S. county where a majority of residents were born abroad, according to the Associated Press. The county also has the largest population of Cuban-Americans in the country, according to the county’s website.

Protesters were heard shouting "shame on you" after the vote, according a reporter for ABC News affiliate WPLG.

In emotional speeches ahead of the Friday vote, dozens stood up to speak against the mayor's decision, the AP reported.

The mayor, who himself is an immigrant, announced last month that the county would comply with Trump’s crackdown on so-called sanctuary communities.

Trump threatened in an executive order to cut federal funding from "sanctuary" cities that sheltered immigrants who are living in the country illegally.

ABC News' Jason Volack contributed to this report.