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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd Credit: Polk County Sheriff’s Office<\/p>\nPolk County Sheriff Grady Judd Credit: Polk County Sheriff’s Office<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s Republican sheriffs want President Donald Trump to end mass deportations of undocumented immigrants who haven\u2019t committed crimes, a striking shift from law enforcement in the nation\u2019s most aggressive anti-undocumented immigration state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Congress sits on their hands and does nothing about this, we are on the ground floor with this day in and day out \u2014 looking in the eyes of these folks that, yes, came here inappropriately. But some came here inappropriately only to do better for themselves and their family,\u201d Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Monday during a State Immigration Enforcement Council meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He plans to draft a letter to Trump, the U.S. House Speaker, and the Senate majority leader urging better guidelines over which undocumented immigrants should be targeted for deportation.<\/p>\n
Judd\u2019s comments are remarkable.\u00a0A leading conservative, he\u2019s also chair of the eight-sheriff council tapped by Republican leaders last year to shape hardline immigration policy.\u00a0He\u2019s also a favorite of Gov. Ron DeSantis.<\/p>\n
Although this is a drastic break with DeSantis \u2014 who for years has insisted that any migrant illegally in the country \u201cneeds to go<\/a>\u201d\u2014 Judd\u2019s comments come days after the White House privately told Republicans to\u00a0stop talking<\/a>\u00a0about mass deportations.<\/p>\n Judd added that a Florida Cabinet member had talked \u201cabout this kind of immigrant,\u201d with Trump, who \u201cwas not anti-that conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n At least six of the eight sheriffs on the council echoed Judd during Monday\u2019s Microsoft Teams meeting. One said the state has cast \u201ctoo wide of a net;\u201d another urged Judd to write to Congress, and a third offered harsh criticisms of ICE tactics.<\/p>\n \u201cI wholeheartedly agree that Congress, they need to get off their butts and they need to fix it,\u201d Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell agreed. \u201cWe\u2019re not out \u2026 just raiding business and homes, but, unfortunately, when ICE gets involved, you have the collaterals.\u201d<\/p>\n ICE and Border Patrol have\u00a0shot 14 people<\/a>\u00a0in their quest to ramp up mass deportations, the main platform Trump ran on ahead of his second presidential term. At least two U.S citizens, both in Minnesota, were killed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both agencies are under the Department of Homeland Security. Until a few weeks ago, it was run by Kristi Noem \u2014 embattled by allegations of slow-walking disaster funds, misusing deportation dollars, and having an affair with a \u201cspecial adviser.\u201d<\/p>\n The sheriffs agreed Monday that they would jointly draft and edit the letter to Trump and Congress, imploring the administration to stop deporting undocumented immigrants without a criminal record.<\/p>\n Instead, Judd suggested, they could look at civil fines, demand they learn English, or disallow them from living off the taxpayer dime.<\/p>\n The Legislature created the Florida Immigration Enforcement Council last year to advise the newly-founded State Board of Immigration on enforcing immigration laws. The board comprises DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet \u2014 Attorney General James Uthmeier, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.<\/p>\n DeSantis, the Cabinet, Senate President Ben Albritton, and House Speaker Danny Perez appointed the eight sheriffs on the council.<\/p>\n The groups are part of a broader push by DeSantis to assert Florida as the top immigration enforcement state in the nation, as shown by its first-in-the nation \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d detention center and status as the only state forcing all of its counties to partner with ICE.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t mean give [non-criminal immigrants] a free pass,\u201d Judd said, listing potential smaller ways to punish undocumented immigrants, including making them put their kids in school.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut we already know those people are doing that, and primarily going to Catholic Church \u2026 on Sunday. Those are the folks that we need in this country that we embrace,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a country of immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida Phoenix<\/a>\u00a0is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions:\u00a0info@floridaphoenix.com<\/a>. Follow Florida Phoenix on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t