POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Sheriff's Deputies are now going to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) book people into jail.
In a press conference in Polk County on Monday, more than 20 Sheriffs from across the state showed a united front on immigration enforcement, including Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell.
"We will overwhelm the system very rapidly and we intend to work very aggressively," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
Watch Senior Reporter Kaitlin Knapp explain what changes will happen inside jails:
The first program Prummell talked about is the "Warrant Service Officer" program.
"When somebody is arrested and booked into our jail, if they have a detainer on them and ICE is notified — when that person is ready to leave the jail, our staff can serve that warrant on them and hold them for an extra 48 hours and then ICE comes and takes them into custody," he explained.
Judd said there are people they will focus on.
"It’s the criminal, illegal aliens that’s here committing crime. That’s the number one priority," Judd said. "The second priority is those that have deportation orders."
However, there's a concern with holding people, potentially long-term.
"We got to have capacity and it’s got to come from the federal government," Judd said.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says ICE only has 2,000 beds in Florida and they're full.
"We’re going to be doing a bed inventory and looking to see what the county jails have," he said.
Currently, the Pinellas County Jail is at capacity and Gualtieri admitted that people are sleeping on the floor.
However, Prummell says he has room, but that could change.
With more people potentially coming in, Knapp asked Prummell if manpower is a concern.
"We’ve always had staffing issues within the last several years. We are seeing the pendulum swing back the other way," he explained. "...but if I do start bringing in those detainers and holding them, I will need additional staffing for those."
Along with the jail program, they're working on a Street Task Force,
"That allows some local and state law enforcement to augment some of the powers of ICE out there on the street," Prummell explained. "As we’re doing our normal duties and we come across illegals, that have detainers, we’re able to do those investigations and turn them over to ICE."
Currently, the sheriffs said there are 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in the United States with an active, final deportation orders issued by a judge.
Prummell is part of Florida's Immigration Enforcement Council, so Knapp asked if there is any feedback or insight he has yet for the state.
"These immigration laws are very, very complex and we’re all trying to catch on and learn how this all works," he said.
For the jail program, the sheriffs said they want it fully operational within the next 15 to 30 days. All 67 jails between sheriff-run and county-run jails have the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed for this program.
There's no timeline yet for the task force.
DeSoto County Sheriff James Potter was the only other local sheriff to attend.
