A Florida county sheriff who had refused to enforce immigration laws yielded after state Attorney General James Uthmeier warned he could be removed from office. The move from Uthmeier comes as sheriff’s departments in places like Los Angeles refuse to help federal immigration officials and even fail to shut down pro-illegal immigration riots.
Earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida partnered its law enforcement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Despite this, Broward County’s sheriff, Dr. Gregory Tony, initially made it clear he would not assist the federal government in its enforcement of immigration law.
In the letter sent on Monday, Uthmeier sought “clarity on several problematic remarks” that Tony made during a June 3 budget meeting. He noted how Tony claimed “arresting illegal immigrants is ‘not within [the] purview’” of his office.
“I would hope your statements were mere political posturing, but if not, your expressed position would constitute a failure of your statutory obligation to utilize ‘best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law,’” Uthmeier wrote. If Tony did not uphold the law he swore an oath to enforce, he could be removed from office, the letter stated.
Uthmeier’s letter cited multiple recent instances where an illegal immigrant engaged in dangerous and unlawful conduct, including “impersonat[ion] of a U.S. citizen, illegally voting, and unlawfully possessing a firearm,” as well as allegedly “kidnapping, sexual assault, and endangering a child.”
Tony promptly responded to the letter, thanking Uthmeier for letting him “clarify [his] remarks” and indicating that his office “will continue to comply with Florida law regarding immigration enforcement.”
On June 2, DeSantis extended the “state of emergency in Florida due to the mass migration of illegal aliens to Florida” an extra 60 days. DeSantis stated that the emergency order, originally declared in 2023, was necessary “because the large influx and number of illegal aliens within the State remains and the response from the Biden Administration was inadequate.” He further noted that the “ongoing crisis continues to strain local resources and requires the continued coordination, direction, and resources of the State of Florida.”
Other officials in Florida have reportedly followed Tony’s pattern of initially bucking state law requiring cooperation in enforcement of immigration law and then immediately stepping back line. Orlando’s mayor and officials in Fort Myers and Jacksonville also pushed back on the ICE agreement, but Florida’s state government “immediately put them on notice and, thankfully, they’ve all immediately retracted,” Uthmeier said in an interview posted on X.
DeSantis has expressed his support for Trump sending the National Guard to California in response to the Los Angeles riots. DeSantis said he would join a letter signed by attorneys general from 26 states, including Uthmeier, showing support for Trump’s “action in California”.
“Governors usually don’t want to have unrest in their states,” DeSantis told Fox News on Tuesday. DeSantis’ team also made it clear that “rioting will not be tolerated,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported on Tuesday.
DeSantis said he offered to send Florida’s National Guard to California, but was denied because it would “inflame the situation.” “No, what’s inflaming the situation are the illegals that are burning cars and looting stores,” he said.
“Florida is and will remain a law and order state,” DeSantis said in a video post on X on Tuesday.
Abigail Nichols is a correspondent for The Federalist. She was previously the opinion editor for the University of South Florida's student newspaper, The Oracle. She is now working as the business manager at the University of North Florida's student-run media outlet, Spinnaker Media, while obtaining a Master's Degree in Social work.