JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Illegal Immigration Act, which passed in the City Council this week, is awaiting the signature of Mayor Donna Deegan.
As many from around the state watch to see how the mayor handles the bill, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters was asked for his thoughts on the matter.
The bill, which aims to enhance local law enforcement’s ability to identify individuals in the country illegally, proposes funding for 25 additional fingerprint scanners and requires local law enforcement to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) upon making an arrest.
It was introduced by City Council Vice President Kevin Carrico and passed by a vote of 12 to 5, which was applauded on social media by Governor Ron DeSantis, and since its passage, all eyes have turned to Deegan, who recently expressed concerns about the bill during a recent town hall meeting.
Great job to the City of Jacksonville in following Florida law and empowering their law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of laws against illegal immigration. I am pleased to see this follow from our work in the special session I called in January to insist that all state… https://t.co/CVlt1slPav
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 26, 2025
A major piece of the legislation provides money for 25 mobile fingerprinting devices, which Sheriff T.K. Waters said will help his agency work with ICE to identify illegal immigrants involved in crimes.
“I am not talking about people who are working every day,” Waters said. “We are talking about the ones who come into our community, the sexual battery suspects, the attempted murder suspects, the constant DUIs. Those are all dangerous. We lose people in Jacksonville to DUI a lot more than we should.”
Waters adds that immigration enforcement is something “the president wants done, our governor wants it done, I want done, and I think the citizens as a whole want to see it done.”
Despite her support for providing resources to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Deegan expressed concern about potential lawsuits arising from the bill.
“I have always been a believer that law enforcement needs the tools they say they need,” Deegan said. “I don’t have a problem with the piece of that bill that the sheriff says he needs to make sure he has the equipment to do his job.”
She continued, “My biggest concern when it comes to these types of bills is that we have already seen lawsuits that have been filed in other states...There is a lot to this; there is a whole lot to it. I never make snap decisions on anything.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthimer, who spoke at another event, emphasized that local governments and law enforcement must do everything possible with available resources to assist the federal government in enforcing immigration laws.
”If a city official takes action that impedes or prevents law enforcement from undergoing necessary training and participating with the feds to get these people back to where they came from, then I do believe the law is violated, and there will be penalties for that.”
The mayor’s office says it doesn’t want this process to be drawn out, saying, “This is a decision we must get right for our community.”
Deegan has until the next council meeting on April 8 to either sign the bill, have it become law without her signature, or veto it.
