Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a top Republican and favorite of Gov. Ron DeSantis, doubled down Tuesday by again calling for an end to deportations of undocumented immigrants who “add to society.”
“Those people who are adding to the American dream, enjoying the American dream, that came here illegally but they’re doing good and they’re not a drag on society — in fact they’re helping society — we need to find a path for them,” Judd said Tuesday during a press conference.
“The reason for that is simple: You’re doing what’s right.”
He spoke to reporters a day after he and six other law enforcement officers on the Florida Immigration Enforcement Council publicly mulled drafting a letter to President Donald Trump, the U.S. House Speaker, and the Senate majority leader to urge reserving deportation to violent criminals.
Following the meeting, Judd said other sheriffs around the state called him to say, “That’s exactly the common sense we want.” He added that every law enforcement officer on the council — minus Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, who was absent and repudidates his colleagues. position — agreed that a “path forward” needs to be carved out.
DeSantis created the council last year to advise on Florida’s undocumented immigration policies. It comprises four sheriffs and four police chiefs appointed by top state GOP leaders.
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This conversation among the Republican officers marked a striking shift in Florida’s hardline anti-immigration policies. It also directly contradicted the DeSantis administration’s long-held insistence on deporting all undocumented migrants and Trump’s initial mass deportation platform.
Attorney General James Uthmeier just hours earlier said that everyone illegally in the country needs to be deported because: “If people are here illegally, then they are breaking the law.”
But Judd’s words came amid a Republican reckoning on immigration.
Last week, the White House privately told Republicans to stop talking about mass deportations and instead focus on violent unauthorized migrants. A Politico poll found that 49% of Americans found Trump’s mass deportations to be “too aggressive.” The poll came the same month that ICE and Border Patrol agents shot and killed two protesters in Minnesota.
Judd doesn’t see his stance as oppositional to either the governor or the Trump administration, he said Tuesday, and finds it “offensive” to suggest otherwise. He added that it’s up to Congress to address the conflict.
“Quite frankly, Congress gets an F minus, if you can get worse than an F, in dealing with this issue.”
But undocumented immigrants who crossed into the country shouldn’t immediately be adopted into society, Judd said. Instead, they should be civilly fined, forced to learn English, and expected to engage economically and socially in their new communities.
He brought up the “wide open” border under President Joe Biden, and posed a question: If an immigrant was making $1 dollar an hour to roof houses in Mexico, but could make $20 after crossing the border into the United States, wouldn’t they try it?
“And then I go, well, where do I apply [to cross legally]? It’s about a 10-year wait,” Judd said. “Now am I gonna wait 10 years, or am I gonna walk across that open border?”
“It’s a violation of law, they need to be held accountable, it’s not appropriate, but why is it a 10-year wait?”
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