T.K. Waters breaks with his fellow Immigration Enforcement Council on mass deportations. (Via Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office)
T.K. Waters, the Jacksonville sheriff and member of Florida’s anti-illegal immigration council, is pushing back against GOP law enforcement officials who are resisting President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
“I was not on the call referenced and do not share or endorse the comments made by others. Our focus remains on enforcing the law and continuing our mission to make Jacksonville a safer place for all residents,” Waters said in a statement to the Phoenix.
He referred to a meeting Monday of the Florida Immigration Enforcement Council, made up of four sheriffs and four police chiefs appointed by GOP state leaders to shape hardline immigration policy. At least six of the Republican officials — in a shock move from the nation’s most aggressive anti-illegal immigration state — criticized deporting undocumented immigrants who hadn’t committed crimes.
They were so critical that Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri brainstormed drafting a letter to Trump, the U.S. House Speaker, and the Senate majority leader asking that they restrict the undocumented immigrants targeted for deportation.
Others agreed that too “wide of a net” had been cast and that Congress needed to “get off their butts … and fix it.”
Although this was a massive departure from the all-out deportation mindset long-championed by Florida Republicans, it falls in line with the Trump administration’s new behind-the-scenes push toward exclusively targeting violent unauthorized offenders.
But Waters, a top ally to the governor, doubled down on his support for mass deportations. He was the only member of the council, created last year, who wasn’t on the Microsoft Teams meeting on Monday.
“As sheriff, I want to reaffirm that our agency has and always will work hand-in-hand with our state and federal partners to uphold the laws and priorities established by our elected leaders,” he said.
“We have participated in illegal immigration enforcement long before it was mandated for other Florida counties. The 287(g) program was established in Duval County in 2008. In the past two years alone, we have processed 1,289 illegal immigrants for removal proceedings, all of whom committed crimes in our county.”
The present members of the council did agree that undocumented immigrants innocent of additional crimes shouldn’t be given “a free pass.” They suggested civil fines, orders to send their kids to school, and mandatory English lessons, adding that Congress should look for an additional path to citizenship for these individuals.