Nearly a thousand people have been arrested and deported for being in Jacksonville and St. Johns County illegally this year alone. It is part of local counties’ cooperation with the state and federal governments law enforcement efforts against undocumented immigrants.
On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia awarded the Jacksonville and St. Johns County sheriff’s offices as well as those in Bradford, Clay and Putnam counties about $1.8 million to help in this mission. The sheriffs joined Ingoglia for the announcement at the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications and Training Center in St. Augustine.
“Under the failed Biden administration, the detrimental impacts of illegal immigration plagued the nation, but President Trump has made it his mission to rectify these wrongs,” Ingoglia said. “By supporting our law enforcement and ensuring they have the resources they need to assist in immigration enforcement efforts, we are further securing our state from criminal illegal aliens.”
The funding is through the Florida Board of Immigration Enforcement for public safety agencies that have applied for reimbursement of the additional costs associated with efforts since President Donald Trump’s return to office and his focus on illegal immigration. Bonuses awarded to law enforcement are provided through an agreement of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows for state and local law enforcement to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“De facto open border policies is what we are trying to undo right now today, not only across this nation but here in the great state of Florida, Ingoglia said. “… Last year the American people spoke loud when they put President Trump back in the White House with a mandate, a clear and obvious mandate, to fix the border and address the wide-ranging issues caused by illegal immigration.”
How much money did the sheriff’s offices get for illegal immigration enforcement?
Following is the breakdown of the funding.
St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office — $1 million
Clay County Sheriff’s Office — $606,151
Putnam County Sheriff’s Office — $108,384
Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office — $94,000
Bradford County Sheriff’s Office — $25,683
St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick addresses illegal immigration enforcement after Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, right, announced the state is giving his agency $1 million to assist.
St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick said 710 people have been detained during routine traffic stops in the county since Jan. 23 based on their immigration status. Of those, 421 were arrested for a criminal offense and deported by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
“The money awarded to us by the state Board of Immigration is an investment in the safety and protection of our community,” he said. “I am grateful for CFO Ingoglia’s support and his dedication to making sure our law enforcement officers have the resources they need to make St. Johns County and the state of Florida the best place in the nation to live, work, play, raise a family and retire.”
In Jacksonville, Sheriff T.K. Waters said 545 people have been arrested and processed for deportation so far this year.
“When individuals break the law to enter our country and go on to commit crimes in our neighborhoods, it puts families, businesses and our deputies at risk,” Water said. “I want to commend the governor, the Legislature, our CFO for taking this issue seriously and backing it up with real action, not just words. From new laws that hold people accountable to resources that help sheriffs do their jobs more effectively, the state has provided leadership that has made a real difference on the ground in our community.”
What else did CFO Blaise Ingoglia say about illegal immigration?
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia discusses illegal immigration enforcement and funding for Northeast Florida sheriff’s offices during a briefing on Oct. 21 in St. Augustine.
Ingoglia ended his briefing with some additional comments Illegal immigration.
“I think everybody in this room knows what we’re up against,” he said. “But let’s not forget that this is a problem that has been festering in the United States for the better part of 50 years. Ever since the 1980s it was supposed to be a grand bargain where we were going to have better, more enforceable immigration law in exchange for amnesty way back when in the 1980s, well we got the amnesty, but we didn’t get the enforcement of the immigration laws.
“Going forward, the federal government has not been able, nor willing, to crack down on illegal immigration for a long time,” he continued. “The red tape that it takes in order for people to come over legally sort of incentivises them to come over illegally. When you combine those two with what we saw with the previous presidential administration with a de facto open borders policy, it’s a recipe for disaster.”
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The increased crime and drugs can all be traced back to a lack of enforcement of the Southern border, Ingoglia said.
“It’s a sad state of affairs,” the CFO said. “But who can we blame? I think a lot of the blame goes on the federal government for not doing anything for almost 50 years. Now we’re all put in this situation where we have illegal immigrants who are committing crimes in our communities, and you guys have to go and keep everyone safe. We are asking you to do things that nobody has ever done before when it comes to not only keeping your community safe but also enforcing immigration law and going the extra mile in doing so.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: State offers funding to Florida sheriff’s offices to assist ICE