The Worst Sheriff You Know Just Made A Great Point (About Trump’s Anti-Migrant Actions)

Say That Again

from the even-a-corrupt-clock-etc. dept

Obviously, this headline owes everything to The Onion, which generated this masterpiece years ago:

And so it is here: someone you’d never think would oppose fascism and bigotry deciding to speak up, despite knowing he could have just kept his head down and maintained his position as Sheriff For Life in Polk County, Florida.

I’m of course talking about Grady Judd. The sheriff of Polk County is a resolutely terrible person — someone who has routinely used the misery he inflicts on people not just in his own county, but across the nation, to elevate himself. He’s a guy who loves to hear himself talk. He loves being the center of attention, even if the attention is negative. And he’ll never turn down an opportunity to get in front of news cameras and get his id on.

Judd likes to send sex workers to jail (while pretending he’s saving them from sex traffickers), has used natural disasters to bump up arrest numbers, waged a misguided, illegal war on alleged pedophiles located well outside of his jurisdiction, and threatened to arrest Apple CEO Tim Cook for refusing to decrypt iPhones on demand.

So, it comes as a genuine surprise that Sheriff Grady Judd would say the things he’s saying about Trump’s anti-migrant actions. After all, he’s overseen directly and indirectly by a political party that’s more than willing to indulge and protect him, no matter what godawful thing he might choose to do. It’s certainly worked for him so far, given his abhorrent track record.

Nevertheless, here’s Grady Judd, pre-midterm election, airing his grievances about an administration. Here’s a man known for going too far expressing his concerns that the Trump administration has crossed a line in its immigration enforcement efforts. (h/t Aaron Reichlin-Melnick)

Florida’s Republican sheriffs want President Donald Trump to end mass deportations of undocumented immigrants who haven’t committed crimes, a striking shift from law enforcement in the nation’s most aggressive anti-undocumented immigration state. 

“While Congress sits on their hands and does nothing about this, we are on the ground floor with this day in and day out — looking in the eyes of these folks that, yes, came here inappropriately. But some came here inappropriately only to do better for themselves and their family,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Monday during a State Immigration Enforcement Council meeting. 

Judd is simply saying what non-bigots have been pointing out for years: immigrants pay more taxes, work more hours, commit fewer crimes, and are a net benefit not just for governments’ bottom lines, but for America itself.

This is coming from one of the Florida GOP’s handpicked members of its recently formed “immigration enforcement council.” Judd was no doubt chosen because the GOP expected wholehearted support of whatever it chose to do. But here’s the thing: the GOP-picked panel is seeing plenty of dissent, with Judd simply being the most-recognizable critic of Trump’s anti-immigration efforts.

At least six of the eight council members echoed Judd during Monday’s Microsoft Teams meeting — a seventh, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, was not present for the call. One said the state has cast “too wide of a net;” another urged Judd to write to Congress, and a third offered harsh criticisms of ICE tactics.

“I wholeheartedly agree that Congress, they need to get off their butts and they need to fix it,” Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell agreed. “We’re not out … just raiding business and homes, but, unfortunately, when ICE gets involved, you have the collaterals.”

While some of the other board members might just be in the “stopped clock is right twice a day” category, Judd isn’t. He’s on another level completely when it comes to being a sheriff. He’s a clock that adamantly refuses to tell time at all, and is now perhaps as surprised as anyone else that he might have (however momentarily) told time correctly.

And that’s why it looks like he’s already trying to walk some of this back.

And while that’s disappointing, it must be noted that the walkback does not include every bit of his criticism. Judd still wants immigration enforcement limited to criminals, while expressing his support to paths to citizenship for migrants who may have come here illegally, but have done nothing but contribute to their communities since their arrival.

Judd’s in a safe space. He can level this criticism and know he can’t simply be fired for going against the GOP grain, ranging from the state governor to the Commander in Chief. He’s in an elected position, which means he’d need to be voted out. And that hasn’t happened yet, despite Judd’s casual disregard for constitutional rights and jurisdictional limits. I don’t think this is the sort of thing that’s going to end his law enforcement career — not just because most voters tend to vote for incumbents, but because even some people on the far right are recognizing Trump’s anti-migrant efforts are not only bad for polls/public perception of the party, but bad for America itself.

Filed Under: florida, grady judd, mass deportation, police union, polk county, ron desantis, trump administration