Grady Woke in Winter Haven, Florida on March 17, 2026.
Credit: Polk County Sheriff's Office/Facebook

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd knows his county. After all, he’s been elected six times, and loves to get in front of a camera and say colloquial phrases like, “They don’t know beans from buttermilk about what’s happening in this community.”

But Judd recently defended non-violent illegal migrants, which is a cardinal sin in MAGA world, and to prove he’s not a “grits for brains” lib, the longtime registered Republican and Trump committee appointee, held a press conference on Tuesday to calm everyone down.

Speaking in front of reporters at Winter Haven’s Sheriff’s Operations Center, the notoriously tough on crime sheriff kicked things off by attacking local media for highlighting a recent controversial stance made by himself and six other law enforcement officers on the Florida Immigration Enforcement Council.

Earlier this week the council mulled sending a letter criticizing the Trump administration’s sweeping mass deportation, and essentially argued that illegal immigrants who aren’t criminals should have a “path forward” to stay in the country, under certain conditions.

“Those people who are adding to the American dream, enjoying the American dream, that came here illegally but they’re doing good and they’re not a drag on society—in fact they’re helping society—we need to find a path for them,” Judd said on Tuesday.

Judd would like to see the U.S. House Speaker, and the Senate majority leader work together to urge reserving deportation to just violent criminals. “Quite frankly, Congress gets an F-minus, if you can get worse than an F, in dealing with this issue,” added Judd.

Clearly some were worried that Judd was infected by the “Woke Mind Virus.” So at yesterday’s press conference Judd reiterated that he still loves ICE agents, and said it was “offensive” to suggest otherwise.

“Don’t believe the hype … don’t buy that recent media hyperbole implying we are breaking away from or not working with ICE. We wholeheartedly support their mission. Always have, always will,” wrote his department on Facebook.

Of course, Judd’s sympathy for illegal migrants didn’t sit well the Judd Heads, who put down their Grady Judd bobbleheads to flood his department’s Facebook livestream with comments like: “We are witnessing the end of Judd’s career” and “Bruh… not you grady… he must have a latina baddy he’s in love with lol.”

“This is not some epiphany from above all of a sudden, this is common sense of what’s happening here,” said Judd at the press conference. “You can’t have rule that fits all.”

Unfortunately, the “common sense” that Judd longs for doesn’t exist. Cruelty, fear and humiliation are what make this whole racist recipe work. Afterall, Homeland Security Advisor and white nationalism-enjoyer Stephen Miller helped author much of the Trump administration’s objectively irrational policies, like family separation at the border, and, more recently, the use of the Alien Enemies Act, which helps quickly deport migrants without any pesky court hearings.

That same day, Florida Attorney General General Jammes Uthmeier also chimed in and disagreed with Judd at a press conference in Orlando. “What I’ll say is in Florida, we’re going to keep enforcing the law. That is our job, as law enforcement, to enforce the law that’s on the books. If people are here illegally, then they are breaking the law, and we are going to enforce it,” said Uthmeier.

It’s worth noting that former Hillsborough County District Attorney Andrew Warren was canned by Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing a piece of paper saying he doesn’t think some laws, like violations of state abortion bans or gender-affirming healthcare, are worth prosecuting. But he was a Democrat so it’s different, I guess.

But what’s remarkable about the 72-year-old’s newly-announced stance on illegal migrants is that it shows a hint of empathy, especially from a guy who once said he would arrest anyone who had an active warrant seeking shelter from Hurricane Irma. It also shows that maybe he saw a recent Politico poll showing 49% of Americans think Trump’s mass deportations are “too aggressive,” or that maybe he noticed his “economically politically active” Republican friends rely heavily on Polk County immigrant labor through seasonal agricultural visas. Or maybe he just needs something to distract folks from his appearance in the Epstein files.

Either way, anyone whose brain hasn’t been red-pilled into a fine mush and then squeezed through an Ivermectin tube can see that Trump’s current immigration policy of sending masked goons into courthouses, Home Depot parking lots and daycares, while sweeping up anyone you looks brown has been an epic disaster.

But unfortunately for Judd, pointing this out and simply asking for some nuance and “common sense” surrounding immigration policy, is considered woke now.

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This article appears in Mar. 12 – 18, 2026.