The Broward County Sheriff, embroiled in controversy for refusing to track down and arrest unauthorized migrants, should be suspended and replaced if he continues to deprioritize illegal immigration efforts, two top allies to Gov. Ron DeSantis and likely picks to lead high office said Monday.
Gregory Tony, the sheriff of the county with the most active Democratic voters, compared arresting unauthorized migrants who contribute to society in "some positive form" to a "cesspool" that the Broward sheriff's office would not be "playing in," at a city commission meeting on Friday.
Attorney General James Uthmeier promptly warned Tony in a Monday letter that he could be removed if he doesn't reaffirm that he will uphold Florida law. And while Tony quickly promised that his office would comply, rattling off past times Broward helped arrest criminal illegal immigrants, his bold assertion last week raised hackles in DeSantis's circle.
His refusal to participate in that key element of a sweeping new law, SB-4, signed in February, drew the ire of Republican Senators Blaise Ingoglia and Jay Collins—two of the strongest DeSantis allies in a legislature that has slowly crept away from the governor in his final years in office.
"[Tony's] job is to protect citizens. If he doesn’t want to protect people by helping to find, detain and arrest immigrants who are in HIS county illegally maybe Governor DeSantis should find someone that will," Ingoglia, the former GOP Chair and DeSantis's likely frontrunner to become the next Chief Financial Officer, told The Floridian.
Collins, floated as the potential next Lieutenant Governor to DeSantis, agreed, calling Tony's refusal a "slap in the face" to Floridians.
"When sheriffs start picking and choosing which laws to enforce, it’s the people who suffer—just look at Los Angeles," he told The Floridian in a statement. "The sheriff took an oath to uphold the law, not play politics with public safety. If he won’t do his job, Broward County needs to find someone who will.”
DeSantis appointed Tony to Broward's top role in 2019 to replace former county Sheriff Scott Israel, who the governor suspended for BSO's disastrous handling of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead. Eight deputies remained outside the school as a madman opened fire, and many later said they hadn't undergone active shooter training in months.
Tony is the county's first Black sheriff.
SB-4, signed in February, requires local authorities to support federal immigration raids and efforts. And though all 67 counties have entered into agreements promising to assist with inmate processing and adopt task force models to locate and arrest migrants here illegally, Tony told the city commission that this is not one of his priorities.
"In short, no, we're not playing in that cesspool," Tony began. "The patch on our sleeve says Broward County; we're not ICE, we're not immigration, I don't work for the Department of Justice, I don't work for the President of the United States. I work for the people of this community."
"I don't care what country you're from. If you commit a crime in this county, I'm coming for you," he continued. "But what I refuse to do is take this notion that we need to be knocking on doors, or arresting children, or going into daycare centers or restaurants, and taking and snatching people off these streets who have been paying taxes and contributing to this society in some positive form, regardless if they're U.S. citizens or not.
“It’s not within our purview and it’s not within our responsibility, and I won’t participate in it," he added.
SB-4 was passed amid and after a vicious bout of infighting from Republican lawmakers. Nearly all—with the exception of Collins, Ingoglia, and Sen. Jonathan Martin in the Senate—voted to kill DeSantis's anti-illegal immigration bills. Ingoglia carried nearly all of them.
