The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is taking a new approach to assist in enforcing federal immigration laws, allowing deputies to ask people where they were born during law-enforcement encounters.
Sheriff Grady Judd says the policy is meant to help federal authorities identify people who are in the country illegally, while ensuring there is no type of racial profiling.
“The whole emphasis of this is so that we don’t encounter someone suing us and saying you’re racially profiling, you’re only asking people with brown skin,” Judd said. “After all, there are people illegally in this country with white skin.”
The change follows a state immigration law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last February.
Senate Bill 2-C, passed during a special legislative session, requires state and local law-enforcement agencies to quote “use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law.”
“The law mandates that we help identify and turn over to ICE those that are in this country illegally and subject to deportation,” Judd said.
Under the policy, if someone tells deputies they were not born in the United States, Judd says the sheriff’s office contacts Immigration and Customs Enforcement to verify their legal status.
“We then contact ICE with your identification, and we say, are they here legally or illegally,” Judd said. “If they’re here legally, we wish them a wonderful day. If they’re here illegally and ICE says we want them, then we simply hold them and turn them over to ICE, and then they deal with the federal government.”
The policy has prompted questions about protections under the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Defense attorney Bryant Camareno says the amendment does not necessarily apply to questions about birthplace.
“The Fourth Amendment does protect you from privacy, but I think it was geared more toward illegal searches and seizures of your personal property,” Camareno said. “Giving biographical information, to me, in my opinion and my reading of the law, is not covered by the Fourth Amendment.”
However, Camareno says the policy could still have broader impacts on community trust.
“I think there’s a lot of fear amongst the Hispanic community and other members of the community that may not be here legally,” he said.
Camareno added that his advice to anyone encountering law enforcement is to remain cooperative.
“My best advice to anyone when you’re faced with a situation is try to cooperate as much as you can with law enforcement, otherwise law enforcement can complicate your life,” he said.
Judd maintains the policy will only be applied during consensual encounters or situations where deputies already have a legal reason to detain someone, and says his agency is acting within both state and federal law.
“You’re a witness. You’re a suspect. You receive a traffic citation. You’re a victim. It’s an easy question.”