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.
Hellbound and Down 