Tackling illegal immigration has traditionally been a task for the federal government.
But things are changing quickly during President Trump’s second term.
And Donald Trump was stunned after a Florida city passed this law against illegal immigration.
Jacksonville makes illegal immigration a crime
States tried to find ways to criminalize illegal immigration under former President Joe Biden because his administration would not enforce the law.
Texas Senate Bill 4 passed in 2023 made it a state crime to illegally cross the border into Mexico.
The Biden administration sued to stop the law arguing that immigration law was exclusively the domain of the federal government.
President Donald Trump’s administration dropped the challenge against the law.
With a new sheriff in Washington, D.C., more jurisdictions are considering criminalizing illegal immigration.
Jacksonville, Florida became the first city in the country to go after illegal immigration.
The Jacksonville Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act passed by the City Council would make it a crime for illegal aliens to be in the city, give them mandatory jail sentences, and require law enforcement to alert state and federal authorities if an illegal alien had been arrested.
Florida already has some of the toughest state laws on the books against illegal immigration.
This law added more pressure on illegal aliens who wanted to enter Jacksonville.
Controversy erupts over Jacksonville’s anti-illegal immigration law
Democrats were outraged that the Florida city would take matters into its own hands and left-wing groups threatened to sue to block it.
Jacksonville City Council member Nick Howland argued that the law was about public safety.
“We are the first city in the country to enact this kind of bill,” Howland said. “We’re standing with our president, with our governor, with our state legislature to secure our borders, to reverse the Biden wave of illegal immigration and to keep our streets and our neighborhoods safe.”
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters backed the bill.
His department received 25 fingerprint scanners as part of the new law to help determine a suspect’s immigration status.
“There are two main parts to the bill,” Howland explained. “The first is what we’ve already discussed; it criminalizes entering or residing in Duval County if you are an illegal immigrant. The second part focuses on determining whether someone is in the country illegally.”
Jacksonville covers about 800 square miles and has a consolidated government with Duval County.
“This bill helps Sheriff T.K. Waters determine how many additional fingerprint readers are needed to equip every patrol unit operating 24/7 throughout the city and county,” Howland added.
The city is spending $76,000 to buy the new fingerprint scanners.
“That will bring the department’s total to just over 150, roughly one for every patrol,” Howland said. “This is critical because it gives the sheriff another tool in the toolbox.”
In Jacksonville last year, 602 illegal aliens were detained and more than 300 were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation.
“This is, at the end of the day, a public safety bill,” Howland stated. “This is keeping people off the streets that would otherwise endanger our community. And we need to know when someone is legal or illegal and the fingerprint readers help.”
Jacksonville’s law could spur more cities and counties to crack down on illegal immigration.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
