Have city of Jacksonville employees and Mayor Donna Deegan worked to “impede immigration enforcement”?
Attorney General James Uthmeier said his Office of Statewide Prosecution has sent a subpoena seeking to probe whether there was a “coordinated effort amongst officials … to thwart investigative efforts,” amid an ongoing conflict between the Republican government in Tallahassee and the Democratic Chief Executive in City Hall.
And he says federal anti-racketeering laws and even statewide anti-doxxing laws could be in play, depending on what state prosecutors find.
“This morning, the Office of Statewide Prosecution sent a criminal subpoena to the Deegan administration in Jacksonville. If there’s evidence that her administration coordinated to impede immigration enforcement and harbor criminal aliens, we will hold them accountable,” Uthmeier posted on X ahead of a press conference in Green Cove Springs.
Republicans have raised questions about the mayoral administration’s attitude toward ongoing immigration enforcement in the city after a staffer, Yanira Cardona, offered advice last month on how to deal with immigration policing “targeting” them. Uthmeier said Monday that was the reason for the probe.
“Local officials, they do not have discretion. There is an obligation to use best efforts to facilitate, help the federal government carry out their law enforcement efforts,” Uthmeier said.
The subpoena seeks all records produced by or sent to Cardona between Jan. 2 and Jan. 16, including those on city-provided devices and personal devices used to conduct city business. Cardona, the city’s Director of Hispanic Outreach, has conflated the two at times, featuring her business card on her personal Instagram.
The city’s Custodian of Records is set to appear at the AG’s Jacksonville office on Feb. 20 to testify on this matter, which the city’s General Counsel Michael Fackler said wasn’t a violation of law.
Deegan, following his lead, said last month Cardona’s only violation was of the city’s social media policy. She was put on leave and then reinstated to her position days later.
Uthmeier doesn’t share Deegan’s read.
“I know the Mayor said nothing wrong happened here. We disagree with that. So, we’re looking at it. If there’s a coordinated effort for this city official to work with other city employees or outside NGOs to try to thwart our efforts, to enforce the law, that we will hold these wrongdoers accountable,” the Attorney General pledged.
“ICE is out and about,” Cardona said on the video. “They are doing speed traps. They are, they’ve been seen on Emerson, on Beach Boulevard, on Atlantic and on the highway. They are targeting, literally, they’re targeting any lawn care companies, any AC company construction vans. They’re literally stopping them just to make sure that they have their paperwork.”
Uthmeier seemed to comment on that Monday, saying Deegan’s staffer put law enforcement in harm’s way.
“If you want to flag personal information, locations, details about law enforcement officers to try to harass them, scare them, threaten them, or impede law enforcement operations, that is a crime. We will not stand for that.
Deegan said Cardona was speaking out of “compassion” to address “an immigrant population that is hurting” because of immigration enforcement, and expressed frustration that she had to respond with an “inordinate amount of energy” and provide “grist for the political mill” because Cardona’s comments were used as a “political whipping post.”
Uthmeier sees the matter as one where a subsidiary government is thwarting the state’s. He said “what we’re doing in Florida works, and if city officials think they know better than the law, we’re going to stand in their way.”
The action was filed in the 4th Judicial Circuit, where Jacksonville is located. State Attorney Melissa Nelson previously sided with the Deegan administration over Uthmeier on a gun registry that the Attorney General says is illegal, but that Nelson said fell short of that threshold.
We are awaiting comment from the Deegan administration.