{"id":3348,"date":"2025-08-08T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/?p=3348"},"modified":"2025-08-07T14:08:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T18:08:42","slug":"sheriff-grady-judd-slams-ice-for-recruiting-polk-county-deputies-biting-the-hand-that-feeds-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/2025\/08\/08\/sheriff-grady-judd-slams-ice-for-recruiting-polk-county-deputies-biting-the-hand-that-feeds-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheriff Grady Judd Slams ICE for Recruiting Polk County Deputies: “Biting the Hand That Feeds You”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pour yourself a double, folks, because Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is madder than a wet hen, and he\u2019s got the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in his crosshairs. The feds, in a move dumber than a screen door on a submarine, decided to use PCSO\u2019s own email list to send recruitment letters to Judd\u2019s deputies, offering fat bonuses to jump ship. Let\u2019s just say Judd ain\u2019t toasting to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the deal: ICE, desperate to beef up its ranks with 10,000 new agents for Trump\u2019s deportation push, sent emails dangling a $50,000 signing bonus and up to $60,000 in student loan payoffs. The catch? They targeted deputies trained under the 287(g) program\u2014folks Polk County spent time and taxpayer dollars to certify for ICE\u2019s immigration work. Judd, who\u2019s been a rockstar partner in Florida\u2019s 287(g) agreements, called it straight-up \u201cBush league\u201d on MSNBC. \u201cIt\u2019s biting the hand that feeds you,\u201d he growled, and you can bet he\u2019s not wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

See, PCSO handed over deputy contact info to ICE for 287(g) credentialing, not for the feds to play pirate and poach talent. Judd, joined by sheriffs like Pinellas\u2019s Bob Gualtieri and Volusia\u2019s Mike Chitwood, is livid. \u201cWe\u2019re bending over backwards to help ICE, and this is the thanks we get?\u201d Judd said, probably while mentally reloading. He\u2019s even calling out DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to put on her \u201cbig girl pants\u201d and apologize. Shots fired, and we\u2019re here for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, let\u2019s talk stakes. Polk County\u2019s sheriff\u2019s office is already 68 deputies short, and they\u2019re hustling with their own $20,000 sign-on bonuses to fill the gap. ICE\u2019s stunt could kneecap local law enforcement while they\u2019re out there keeping Polk safe and helping ICE round up the bad guys. And for what? A federal flex that screams, \u201cWe don\u2019t respect our partners.\u201d DHS claims they\u2019re just recruiting \u201cpatriots\u201d to deport \u201cgang members and child pedophiles,\u201d but using Judd\u2019s own data to steal his team is a low blow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judd\u2019s still got ICE\u2019s back, says the state-level ICE supervisors are \u201cremarkably good\u201d, but he\u2019s not here for the feds\u2019 nonsense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PoliticalBourbon.com tip: when you tick off a man who once arrested a guy for stealing a single beer, you\u2019ve poured gasoline on a bonfire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here\u2019s to Judd giving ICE a masterclass in loyalty, Southern style. Cheers to that, Polk County.PoliticalBourbon.com serves up unfiltered takes on Florida politics with a shot of common sense. Stay tuned for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pour yourself a double, folks, because Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is madder than a wet hen, and he\u2019s got the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in his crosshairs. The feds, in a move dumber than a screen door on a submarine, decided to use PCSO\u2019s own email list to send recruitment letters to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2495,47,4818],"tags":[5031,5034,5030,5036,5035,5028,5027,5033,5018,5025,5029,5032,5026],"class_list":{"0":"post-3348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-central-florida-news","8":"category-politics","9":"category-polk-county","10":"tag-287g-program","11":"tag-department-of-homeland-security","12":"tag-deputy-poaching","13":"tag-deputy-shortages","14":"tag-florida-sheriffs","15":"tag-ice","16":"tag-immigration-enforcement","17":"tag-kristi-noem","18":"tag-law-enforcement","19":"tag-polk-county-sheriffs-office","20":"tag-recruitment","21":"tag-sheriff-grady-judd","22":"tag-signing-bonus"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3348"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3366,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3348\/revisions\/3366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}