LAUDERHILL, Fla. – Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony lashed out at reporters, including those from Local 10 News, asking him about recent comments about Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a public safety forum in Lauderhill on Thursday.
Tony said, in part, “we have other priorities in this community” than immigration enforcement, drawing a rebuke from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
11 p.m. report:
The sheriff aimed at reporters covering the back-and-forth over the new state mandate for how local police participate in federal immigration enforcement.
“There’s been enough talk about ICE. There’s been enough talk about immigration,” Tony said Wednesday. “There is a lot of sensitivity around this issue and the more times you put this camera in my face and press these buttons, you all are also accountable if this blows up.”
Tony clarified to Uthmeier this week that BSO has been meeting its obligations under state law.
“What I refuse to do is to take this notion that we need to be knocking on doors or arresting children or going into daycare centers or restaurants and snatching people off these streets who have been paying taxes and contributing to this society,” he said.
He called reporters’ stories about the ICE issue “political nonsense.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has removed elected officials around the state from their positions because of their decisions and comments and that is why Local 10 News and other outlets are covering this story.
Local 10’s Samiar Nefzi contributed to this report.
