Jerry Demings: ‘I’m not going to be bullied by the state Attorney General’ on immigration

Jerry Demings —  the former Orlando Police Chief and Orange County Sheriff before becoming Orange County Mayor — has a stark message for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.

“I find it somewhat ironic that the 37-year-old Attorney General is attacking me, personally attacking our board. I spent more years on the streets of Florida, patrolling our streets as a law enforcement officer than he’s been alive,” Demings said. “I am not going to be bullied by the state Attorney General.”

Uthmeier publicly posted a letter to Demings and the Orange County Commission threatening to remove them from office if they refused to transport undocumented immigrants to an ICE-approved facility when requested by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Uthmeier accused Orange County of having a “sanctuary policy” and wrote “the County’s action are particularly puzzling because illegal aliens represent an obvious to the danger to the County.”

The Attorney General’s threats come after Orange County refused to sign an addendum to allow county corrections officers to transport ICE detainees to Alligator Alcatraz — more than four hours away from the Orange County Jail — or other sites outside the county.

The current agreement allows the Orange County Jail to house ICE detainees until they are transported to the Orlando Courthouse or another detention center, Central Florida Public Media reported.

Speaking with media Wednesday at a park groundbreaking ceremony, Demings fought back on the Attorney General’s claims. The Mayor said the county doesn’t have the capacity to transport ICE detainees around the state although the county is fully cooperating with ICE and obeying federal laws.

“How can we keep our community safe if we already have shortages of correctional staff at the Orange County Jail?” Demings questioned. “When the federal government asked us to take and pull our resources out of the jail to go handle a federal responsibility, to transport them to other locations. … What they’re doing is making our community unsafe, making our jail unsafe.”

Demings also argued the county has a right to negotiate with the federal government on immigration enforcement, especially since the current reimbursement rate does not cover the  full cost.

“Our state Attorney General is trying to bully the law enforcement agencies, the Sheriffs, the police chiefs in our state to comply with whatever they say. Well, I’m a former Sheriff, I’m a former Chief of Police, I’m a former jail director. … I will tell you that that is unfair to have a unilateral mandate to those of us who have to work at the local level,” Demings said. “Our jail is managed and operated by Orange County government. I have the central responsibility as the CEO of this county to make certain that that jail runs efficiently and that it is done so in a safe, fair, just way to treat people humanely while they’re in our custody. So I’m pushing back in terms of the narrative that has been set before us to say that somehow we are a sanctuary county.”

Meanwhile Gov. Ron DeSantis and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia are also targeting Orange County for a DOGE audit, which Demings called “mean-spirited politics.”

Pointing out Orange County is blue, Demings said, “Let us have some sensible, common sense conversations about these types of issues, and not just try to mandate and bully and have a one-way conversation. And sadly, that’s what’s happening in the state of Florida right now.”