Florida mayor says he signed ICE pact 'under protest and extreme duress'

Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel on Aug 2, 2025

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ORLANDO, Fla. — A frustrated Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, threatened with suspension and removal from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis, said he signed an amendment to an agreement Friday with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “under protest and extreme duress.”

He said he feared DeSantis would oust him and county commissioners, then name “his minions” to lead the county.

“Yes, I signed the damn thing because we really had to,” Demings said at an afternoon press conference called to explain why he backtracked on his opposition to a codicil permitting county correction officers to transport immigration detainees to federal detention facilities.

Demings and all six commissioners voted against the amendment July 15 but will discuss it again at their Tuesday meeting.

His turnabout occurred as DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet were gathering in Orlando at the Florida Highway Patrol Troop D Headquarters for a press conference at which the governor announced the creation of a new immigration enforcement unit within the patrol.

Demings was asked if he suspected the governor had actually planned to announce he was suspending him.

“I don’t have any direct knowledge of that, but I do have relationships, and I’ll leave it at that,” Demings said.

Before he was elected county mayor, Demings spent four decades in law enforcement, starting his career as an Orlando police officer in 1981. He later served as Orlando police chief, Orange County public safety director and two terms as Orange County sheriff.

Demings objected to adding transport duties for correction officers, insisting the jail lacked staff to handle the extra chore.

“To even be deployed to do that in the first place requires specialized training,” Demings said.

Demings was advised by County Attorney Jeff Newton that DeSantis could not only suspend and remove him and other elected commissioners from office but could impose civil and possibly criminal penalties if the board did not reconsider and approve the amendment.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a DeSantis appointee, warned Demings in writing this week that the rejection of the transport obligation constituted “failure to use ‘best efforts’ to assist with federal immigration enforcement,” as required by state law.

Demings said he was unwilling to risk suspension of the entire Board of County Commissioners, including himself.

“I say that with all sincerity, because of the role, the responsibilities that we have here within this community to take care of our community and look out for our residents,” he said.

Cliff Shepard, a government law attorney, said he believes the risk to Demings and the commission was real. He recalled the governor has previously suspended and removed state attorneys and those actions survived court challenges.

DeSantis replaced Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren in 2022, alleging neglect of duty and incompetence for signing pledges not to prosecute cases related to Florida laws restricting abortion and gender-affirming care. The governor then ousted Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell in 2023, alleging incompetence and neglect of duty, arguing she failed to adequately prosecute drug trafficking and offenses involving firearms.

“It’s not an idle threat,” Shepard said.

“We also know that a significant majority of the current Supreme Court was appointed by the current governor and seem to have favored his position on certain things. If you look at the track record of the current governor with legal challenges in front of the Supreme Court as currently constituted, I can’t think of one that he’s lost.”

But Demings’ capitulation drew criticism from immigration advocates.

In an email to the Orlando Sentinel, Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, executive director of Hope CommUnity Center, an immigrant resource center in Apopka, criticized the mayor for “folding under pressure.”

“His decision represents a betrayal of the values of dignity, inclusion and community that the residents of Orange County hold dear,” Sousa-Lazaballet said. “By doing so, Mayor Demings becomes complicit with the human rights atrocities being committed at these centers, including the already infamous Alligator Alcatraz. I can’t stress this enough, as this is not about politics but about human lives.”