From left are Florida Sen. Jonathan Martin, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, state Rep. Kiyan Michael and St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick. The group spoke Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, about legislative proposals to curb illegal immigration. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today
Published on December 3, 2025 at 4:51 pm
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Florida’s chief financial officer visited the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday to outline his legislative priorities aimed at curbing illegal immigration.
CFO Blaise Ingoglia was joined by St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick, state Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Lee County, and state Rep. Kiyan Michael, R-Duval County.
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Ingoglia’s priorities are targeting what he calls loopholes in existing state statutes that allow undocumented individuals to buy car insurance, open bank accounts and take advantage of workers’ compensation after an on-the-job injury.
Another of his priorities is requiring that drivers be American citizens and that they speak English.
Michael supports that goal. She shared the story of her son, Brandon, who was killed in a car crash by a driver who was not legally in the state.
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“We’re parents that raised our children to obey the laws, to love our country,” Michael said. “So this happens to real people, and I wanted to give a voice to this, which is when I started to speak out.”
An Ohio legislator filed a similar proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year. It would require truck drivers to pass an English language proficiency test.
Illegal immigration in Florida
Ingoglia described undocumented immigrants like a force of nature “flooding” into the country.
He said Florida is in a constant “battle” to keep undocumented immigrants out of the state due to lax federal immigration enforcement — but he said President Trump has made things easier since he took office for his second term this year.
“Here in the state of Florida, we will not sit idly by and not take proactive steps to ensure that our citizens here are safe,” Ingoglia said. “We are ridding our communities of illegal immigrants, especially those who are looking to commit crimes and hurt our neighbors.”
Martin and Michael promised to help Ingoglia’s proposals in the Legislature, and Hardwick praised the CFO — along with President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis — for his commitment to supporting law enforcement officers.
He said support from the federal government down has allowed the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office to be an effective enforcer of immigration law.
“We’re the tip of the spear in law enforcement,” Hardwick said. “We have the proper equipment, the proper training, but most importantly, we’ve got the men and women that want to do the job and they do it right.”
St. Johns County has worked with federal immigration enforcement to deport more people than neighboring counties, including, according to The Marshall Project, when a federal judge had ruled that law enforcement officers were not to do so.
The legislation supporting Ingoglia’s priorities had not been filed in the Florida House or Senate as of Wednesday afternoon. Ingoglia said he is working closely with legislators to get bills filed ahead of the start of the 2026 legislative session.
The session is scheduled to start Jan. 13.
