As protesters gathered outside and inside city hall on Tuesday, the Jacksonville City Council passed new reporting requirements for city grant recipients to show the money is not aiding immigrants without legal status.
The ordinance, which passed by a 11-7 vote, could put grant funding at risk if organizations provide services to immigrants in the country illegally.
The ordinance also requires the mayor’s office to show that state and federal dollars received by the city are not going toward diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Exempt from the reporting requirements:
- Medical services provided at UF Health Jacksonville.
- Medical care for pregnant women.
- Children’s services funded by the Kids Hope Alliance.
- Services for victims of human and labor trafficking and domestic violence.
- Active-duty military.
Cultural service grant recipients would be required to report only services they “knowingly” provide to undocumented immigrants.
A spokesperson for Mayor Donna Deegan told Jacksonville Today that the mayor “has concerns about the bill” and “she will be reviewing it and weighing all her options.”
About two dozen protestors demonstrated outside city hall during the six-hour meeting. The vote happened amid President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests there against ICE immigration raids.
“City leaders should reject this ordinance and focus on the urgent needs of the people they were elected to serve,” Pierre Uwimana with the Florida Immigrant Coalition said. “Affordable housing, fair wages, safe neighborhoods, strong infrastructure. Jacksonville deserves leadership that uplifts our community, not divides them.”
During the council debate, bill sponsor Rory Diamond argued it’s a response to the immigration policies of former President Joe Biden and said it’s necessary to determine how much local taxpayer money is going to benefit undocumented people.
In a committee meeting last week, Diamond, a Republican, argued local voters’ support for Trump in the 2024 election —Trump won Duval with 50.1% of the vote — is proof of support for local immigration measures.
"I didn’t want to have to write this bill. No one wanted to have to write this bill, or to debate it, or have to deal with people calling us terrible things. But we were required to do it because we have to make a choice,” Diamond said. “Are we a nation of laws, or are we a nation of anarchy? Are we Jacksonville or are we Los Angeles? Are we Florida or are we California? Are we going to be a place that says we are going to follow the rule of law, or are we going to be a sanctuary city?”
Only 2% of respondents in the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab's latest poll out last week called immigration the most important problem facing Jacksonville.
All 11 council members who voted yes were Republicans. Opposition was bipartisan.
Council member Tyrona Clark-Murray, a Democrat, questioned Diamond’s intent as she argued the bill was designed to draw political attention rather than protect Jacksonville taxpayers.
“Let me tell you again, stop trying to vilify unauthorized aliens. They don’t do what you say they are doing,” Clark-Murray said.
Addressing Diamond directly, she said, “You better make sure you go back into the regular dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary, and find out what Christian means, because that is not it. A Christian doesn’t allow him- or herself to be used as a puppet by their party. Grow a pair.”
Council member Raul Arias, a Republican, said he was on the fence about voting for the bill. He introduced the amendment to exempt the Kids Hope Alliance – the city’s funding arm to nonprofit service providers that help children. Arias ultimately voted for the bill.
Jimmy Pelsuo, a Democrat, said the bill could put at risk funding for nonprofits like the United Way of Northeast Florida, Lutheran Social Services, the YMCA and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid.
“They’re all at risk. Because people are going to be afraid. They are,” Peluso said. “And if people are afraid to call (The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office) and (the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department) and the city for help, and it’s just going to be more of our neighbors, more of our community members who are … not going to get the help that they need … and it’s going to affect their neighbors.”
Ron Salem, who favored the bill, compared the political discourse around local immigration rules to concerns over potential arrests when the council passed a sleeping-in-public ban last fall. He argued that policy, coupled with new homeless outreach and bus vouchers, have worked to reduce homelessness in Jacksonville, and the public pushback subsided. He expects the same with this bill.
“The rhetoric in October and November is very similar to tonight,” Salem said. “And we dealt with it.”
