Congressman Maxwell Frost Blasts Florida Attorney General’s Threats to Remove Orange County Government Officials Over Immigration Enforcement
ORLANDO, FL — Today, Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10) issued a statement slamming Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, for threatening to remove Orange County Commissioners and Mayor Jerry Demings, after Orange County leaders rejected a proposal that would force county corrections staff to transport federal immigrant detainees to federal detention facilities. Uthmeier’s threat comes as Florida’s newly appointed CFO has announced the State is auditing the county’s spending.
In a statement, Rep. Frost says:
“In a desperate attempt to score points with the Trump Administration, Florida’s unelected Attorney General is threatening to remove elected Orange County officials for doing what they were elected to do — to stand up for the residents of Orange County and exercise their sovereignty and duties given to them by the people.
“This the same governor who used to claim that the federal government was an ‘out-of-touch bureaucracy that does not act on behalf of us, but instead looms over us and imposes its will upon us.’ And now after squandering $450 million of state taxpayer dollars to build an internment camp in the middle of the Everglades, they want to force Orange County to foot the bill for their cruel immigration agenda and use its resources to transport detainees nearly 250 miles away.
“The Governor’s office has a long track record of overstepping and playing these twisted political games to silence the opposition. Threats to remove local leaders who were elected to represent our community while at the same time auditing the county’s spending are nothing short of baseless, direct attacks on one of the only Democratic strongholds left in Florida. This is a political shakedown.
“I stand by Orange County and its leaders against these attacks. This assault on our local democracy will not stand.”
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