Florida’s Republican sheriffs are urging President Donald Trump to halt deportations of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record in a stunning break from the state’s hardline immigration stance.
The call came Monday during a meeting of the Florida Immigration Enforcement Council, a body established last year by the Florida Legislature to drive the state’s immigration enforcement agenda, Florida Politics reported.
At least six of the council’s eight sheriffs backed the position—with Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, 72, leading the charge. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has long insisted that any migrant illegally in the country “needs to go.”
“While Congress sits on their hands and does nothing about this, we are on the ground floor with this day in and day out—looking in the eyes of these folks that, yes, came here inappropriately,” Judd said at the meeting. “But some came here inappropriately only to do better for themselves and their family.”
Judd chairs the council and is a close DeSantis ally. He announced plans to write directly to Trump, the House Speaker, and the Senate Majority Leader, pressing for clearer federal criteria around who should face removal proceedings. Among his proposed alternatives are civil fines, mandatory English classes, and a ban on public benefits.
Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell echoed Judd’s stance. “I wholeheartedly agree that Congress, they need to get off their butts and they need to fix it,” he said. “We’re not out… just raiding business and homes, but, unfortunately, when ICE gets involved, you have the collaterals.”
The revolt comes after ICE and Border Patrol have shot 14 people while carrying out Trump’s mass deportation agenda, including two U.S. citizens killed in Minnesota.
Both agencies fall under the Department of Homeland Security, which, until weeks ago, was led by Kristi Noem, who departed amid allegations of misusing deportation funds, delaying disaster relief, and conducting a rumored affair with her chief advisor, Corey Lewandowski, 52.
Judd’s remarks also come days after the White House privately signaled to Republican allies that it wanted them to dial back public talk of mass deportations, as Florida Politics reported.
He told the council a Florida Cabinet member had raised the question of non-criminal immigrants directly with Trump, who “was not anti-that conversation.”
“We are a country of immigrants,” Judd said.
Reached for comment, the Department of Homeland Security said: “7 of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE. Partnerships with law enforcement are critical to having the resources we need to arrest criminal illegal aliens across the country. We have had tremendous success when local law enforcement work with us including 40,000 arrests in Florida.
“Nationwide our law enforcement is targeting public safety threats—including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists. Nearly 70% of illegal aliens ICE arrested across the country have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges just in the U.S. This statistic doesn’t account for those wanted for violent crimes in their home country or another country, INTERPOL notices, human rights abusers, gang members, terrorists, etc. The list goes on."
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
