Undocumented immigrants shouldn’t benefit from city grants, Jax Council votes

As protesters gathered outside and inside City Hall Tuesday, the Jacksonville City Council passed new reporting requirements for city grant recipients to show the money is not aiding undocumented immigrants.

Ordinance 2025-0138, filed by Beaches council member Rory Diamond, 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. 

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.” 

It passed 11-to-7. 

As the bill was debated, members carved out exemptions for some grant recipients. All medical services provided at UF Health Jacksonville and medical care for pregnant women, as well as children’s services funded by the Kids Hope Alliance, and services for victims of human and labor trafficking and domestic violence, and for active-duty military will be exempt from the new reporting requirement. Cultural service grant recipients would be required to report only services they “knowingly” provide to undocumented immigrants.

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About two dozen protestors demonstrated outside Jacksonville City Hall for the duration of the six-hour meeting, which comes at a fraught time in the nation. The vote happened amidst 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 as Trump has ramped up immigration enforcement in workplaces, at court and in academia.

“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 debate inside the Council Chambers, bill sponsor 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 argued local voters’ support for President Donald 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 latest poll out last week called immigration the most important problem facing Jacksonville.

All 11 Council members who voted yes on the bill were Republicans. Opposition was bipartisan, with Republicans Ken Amaro, Matt Carlucci and Michael Boylan joining four Democrats in voting no.

Council member Ju’Coby Pittman, a Democrat, had an excused absence for the meeting.

The exemption for medical services provided to pregnant women came through an amendment by District 9 member Tyrona Clark-Murray. The councilwoman questioned Diamond’s intent as she argued the bill was designed to draw political attention rather than to protect Jacksonville taxpayers. 

Clark-Murray said, “Let me tell you again, stop trying to vilify unauthorized aliens. They don’t do what you say they are doing.”

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.”  

Arias, a Republican representing District 11, said he was on the fence about voting for the bill. He introduced the amendment to exempt the Jacksonville 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 whose district includes Downtown and Eastside, said the bill could put funding for nonprofits like the United Way of Northeast Florida, Lutheran Social Services, the YMCA and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid at risk.

“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.”