ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings says he had two options-- strike a deal with ICE or get removed from office.
Demings acquiesced and signed an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow Orange County corrections officers to transport detainees to facilities like ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’
It’s a dramatic turn after Wednesday, Demings told Channel 9, he wouldn’t be “bullied” by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to sign an updated ICE agreement.
Tuesday, Uthmeier sent a letter to Demings and commissioners saying they were breaking state law because the commission initially rejected the agreement in June. Uthmeier accused the mayor and commissioners of being a “sanctuary county.” The Attorney General threatened to remove Demings and commissioners from office if they did not sign the agreement.
On Friday, the mayor said the County Attorney advised him to sign the agreement to avoid being removed from office.
“I signed the damn thing...,” Demings said. “I can’t let our entire board of county commissioners and myself be removed from office.” The Mayor described much anxiety filled the county administration building this week after the Attorney General’s threat.
“Do you still feel like you were bullied into making this decision,” Channel 9 asked.
“There’s no question that the state has used intimidation factors. I’m still not intimidated,” Demings said.
The signed addendum was announced just 15 minutes before the Governor and Attorney General were set to have a news conference in Orlando, Friday morning.
Demings said the news conference was a factor in his signing the agreement. He was asked whether he was concerned that Governor DeSantis would announce his removal from office at the Governor’s news conference, but he did not answer.
“But, I do have relationships with many people, and I’ll leave it at that,” Demings said.
Demings says that based on the county’s reading of the addendum, ICE can request that county corrections officers transport detainees. However, the Orange County Jail can deny a transport based on its operational ability.
“If we have the capacity to transport, I highly doubt that there will be such a time in the near future,” Demings said.
Demings says the jail has 212 vacant corrections officer positions, a 24 percent vacancy rate. The Governor and Attorney General say Orange County would be reimbursed for the costs of transporting detainees.
Even after this addendum has been signed, there’s questions of whether the Governor and Attorney General could say it’s a violation of state law for Orange County to refuse to do a transport because the jail is short staffed.
“I would think that given everything that has occurred, I think they’ll be reasonable about that,” Demings said. “Plus, the agreement is not between us and the state of Florida. The agreement is between us and the federal government.”
County Attorney Jeff Newton says by the mayor signing the agreement with ICE, it puts the conflict in the proper forum—court—if there ever were to be litigation.
The mayor made clear that his opinion on the ICE agreement has not changed since Wednesday. He still is against the federal government having the ability to take county corrections officers out of their jurisdiction to transport detainees.
“What I’ve changed is the process by which we will continue to fight,” Demings said.
Before Demings signed the agreement, the county attorney’s office studied the state law on all possible penalties and the power of the Governor in this situation. Newton told Channel 9 he informed the Mayor and two commissioners that they could be suspended by the Governor and face a $5,000 civil penalty. Newton said the law is unclear on what the criminal penalties could be.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
