Sheriff Grady Judd Is Starting to Sound Like a Politician

Let me begin by stating unequivocally that I have been a big fan of Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County, Florida. Over the past several years, his no-holds-barred, shoot-straight-from-the-hip press conferences have gone viral and made him a national law and order icon.

I mean, what other sheriff brags about leaving dangerous gun-wielding criminals “graveyard dead”?

(Actually, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey uses that same terminology to let violent protesters know the potential – even probable – consequences of threatening and/or attacking a law enforcement officer in his jurisdiction.)

That is why I was more than a little dismayed by Sheriff Judd’s recent comments about immigration and more specifically, his belief that we should provide a path to citizenship for those illegal aliens currently living in America that haven’t committed a secondary crime. Here are Sheriff Judd’s exact words…

"Those are the folks we need in this country that we embrace, because we are a country of immigrants,” Judd said at a State Immigration Enforcement Council meeting last week. “But we have allowed what I call the criminal troublemaker to just flood in this country and victimize people. And I think a path for the good folks with a good intention, for the right reason, is reasonable."

So, “criminal troublemakers” should be deported ASAP, but immigrants who crossed into the U.S. illegally should be allowed to stay. Do I have that right, Sheriff?

Yes, indeed, that’s what Sheriff Judd meant because he repeated his position at a press conference the following day.

“What we suggested yesterday is that there needs to be a path forward for those that are in this country. They came here illegally. They violated the federal law, but it is a civil violation. Currently, they have no criminal history. They are not committing crimes. They are employed. They are not on government assistance. They’re not creating problems. Their children are in school. They need to be required to speak English through a program. There needs to be evidence of a positive influence in the community on our society. But those are people who are adding to the American dream and enjoying the American dream that came here illegally, I might add, but they are doing good and they are not a drag on society, in fact, they are helping society. We need to find a path for them and the reason for that is simple – they are doing what’s right. They are helping the economy. They are helping the community. They are adding to the wonderful society that we have in the United States.”

Wow… just plain wow.

Sheriff Judd is right in some instances – crossing into the U.S. illegally is considered a misdemeanor the first time and a felony for subsequent offenses – but it is still punishable by fines and up to six months in prison. However, he is wrong when he says that illegal aliens are not on government assistance, because studies show that roughly 60% of households headed by illegals receive welfare benefits, compared to just 37% for U.S.-born households.

So, what is the cost to American taxpayers for the 10 to 18 million illegal immigrants that Sheriff Judd estimates are currently in our country?

In his sworn testimony before the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on January 11, 2024, Steven A. Camarota, Director of Research for the Center for Immigration Studies stated the following…

Illegal immigrants receive $42 billion in welfare benefits annually, about 4% of the overall total. They also make significant use of our public education system. Based on average costs per student, the estimated 4 million children of illegal immigrants in public schools created $68.1 billion in costs in 2019.

Now we’re up to $110.1 billion… and counting.

According to Camarota, use of emergency medical services is another area in which illegal immigrants create a significant financial burden. Prior research indicates that there were 5.8 million uninsured illegal immigrants in the country in 2019, accounting for a little over one-fifth of the total population without health insurance. The costs of providing care to them likely totals some $7 billion annually.

So, now we’re up to $117.1 billion (and we know that the number of illegals has increased dramatically since 2019).

Now, here comes the real kicker…

Using the National Academies’ estimate of immigrants’ net fiscal impact by education level, Camarota estimated that the lifetime fiscal drain (taxes paid minus costs) for each illegal immigrant is about $68,000.

OUCH!

Now multiply $68,000 times 10 million illegal aliens and you have $680,000,000,000 or $680 billion. Increase the number of illegals to 18 million and the lifetime cost to American taxpayers is a whopping $1,224,000,000 or $1.224 trillion.

And yet, somehow Sheriff Judd looked into the cameras and said with a straight face that illegals “are not a drag on society, in fact, they are helping society.”

Excuse me, Sheriff Judd?

About the only thing you got right is the part about them “enjoying the American dream.” The problem is that they are enjoying that dream at taxpayers’ expense.

You know, the same taxpayers who pay your sheriff’s salary.