Florida Sheriff said using relationships with federal immigration law enforcement is the “strike” in the fight against criminal immigrants.
St. John County Sheriff Robert Hardwick told Fox News Digital that his department has the responsibility to work with federal officials.
St. John County is part of the 287(g) program, which allows us Immigration and Customs Protection (ICE) to delegate certain immigration functions to state and local law enforcement personnel, including identifying and detaining suspicious illegal immigrants.
“The Deputy Sheriff has been working on Interstate 95 with our Customs and Border Patrol, Ice and ERO,” he said. “We have been working with all our federal partners to not only execute immigration, but also to do so.” Perform trafficking in persons, sex trafficking, guns, narcotics and all illegal activities ongoing.”
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St. John County Sheriff Rob Hardwick shares how his department works with federal immigration authorities. (Florida Sheriff Association)
Although the county’s jail is home to the oldest city in the United States, it is not a federal government location, and the sheriff’s representative works closely with federal officials to inform them of illegal immigrants.
Hardwick explained that if deputies pull up someone due to a traffic violation, the person will not be able to provide valid identification and the police find that they are illegal in the country and they will book them.
“Our deputy sheriff will take you to the St. Johns County Jail because there is no valid driver’s license,” he said. “We then plug your fingerprint into the system. We will also run it through a system called IAQ. [Immigration Alien Query]. This will indicate whether you have a civil eviction letter or a warrant for which you may be arrested.
“We run IAQ almost every day in the St. John’s County Jail,” he said. “And we have detainees almost every day.”
St. Augustine, Florida. (iStock)
Hardwick shared that in Florida, officials will “grab the tip of the spear and go to another level.”
“This means we will actually hold all the sheriffs accountable and keep them playing in the sandbox and make sure we are performing these deportations, holdings and our list with our federal partners,” he said.
He shared that at 2 p.m. Friday, they met with federal, state and local partners to discuss the worst crime foreigners in Florida or nearby areas.
“It’s a simple warning in Florida, if you want it – whether you’re an illegal alien or you’re a U.S. citizen, we’ll chase you to find you and hold you responsible for your actions, ” he said.
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Hardwick notes that this may be difficult to pinpoint because some organizations have generated false social security numbers or false driver’s licenses.
U.S. immigration and customs law enforcement officers joined other federal law enforcement agencies in a meeting in Chicago on January 26, 2025. (Christopher Diltes/Bloomberg by Getty Image)
Part of the county’s multi-pronged approach is to use technology to inform law enforcement personnel to reach their jurisdiction.
“We’ve really been working on Interstate 95 because we know there are a lot of neglected interceptions there. We have a brand new tool and technology in St. Johns County. We just opened fire recently.” Our North and South borders have license plate readers and your car tags are running when you enter.
“As of yesterday, our average hit rate was between 17 and 22 times, meaning it could be a stolen car, someone who wants or deportation order, and someone wants a stolen alien list of crimes, and someone wants a sacred man on the list of criminal aliens John County is different and leads from the frontline, leading by example.”
President Donald Trump talked about the economy at an event in Las Vegas on January 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Hardwick mentioned the newly signed legislation by Gov. Ron DeSantis that passed Florida’s comprehensive immigration law, and his office is awaiting other guidance on immigration enforcement.
“We only have 1,500 beds in Florida,” he said. “There are more than 23 million people living here in Florida. We just need to track people who have warrants and we need to take them out of our country.”
He noted that President Donald Trump “is clear that immigration is ranked first on his list.”
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“Let’s start preparing for this happening,” he said.
“I think it’s important to do something different and we’re not going to do that job, but to be elected officials and do the status quo,” he added. “You have to think outside the box.”
Fox News Digital has contacted the White House, ICE and Gov. Desantis’s office for comment.
