Fla. sheriff encourages illegal aliens to self-deport ahead of Trump inauguration: ‘Southbound and down’

A Florida sheriff is combating illegal immigration by sharing a bold statement with those who are in the state illegally ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration.

“And I leave with this message: ‘Southbound and down.’ Do it yourself. You can self-deport and avoid a lot of prison sentence, but it’s time. Southbound and down,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a press conference on Wednesday. 

Grady was joined by Gov. Ron DeSantis and several other local and state officials during the press conference held at Winter Haven to discuss actions to combat illegal immigration.

Judd said a crackdown on illegal immigration would help reduce crime.

“Florida needs to set the example for the other states and support the president [Trump] to get rid of these criminals who are victimizing our people,” Judd said. 

During the press conference, Judd also shared several specific examples of crimes involving illegal immigrants, including cases of murder, DUI manslaughter and organized theft rings.

DeSantis echoed Judd and said he was confident that the second Trump administration would take swift action against the outgoing Biden administration’s immigration policy.

“We in Florida have a sense of urgency to accomplish this mission,” DeSantis said.

“The mission is very simple: We need to end the illegal immigration crisis once and for all in these United States of America.”

Florida sued the Biden administration on several different occasions, including over its “illegal” catch-and-release policies at the southern border and, most recently, its alleged refusal to help the state purge noncitizens from voter rolls in the 2024 election. 

DeSantis scheduled a special session to begin the week after Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration to fund efforts to address illegal immigration, including detention and relocation.

The governor has said the state must work to support Trump’s promises to tackle illegal immigration and ensure that “we don’t have any lingering incentives for people to come into our state illegally.”

In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump thanked DeSantis for calling a special session, saying “hopefully other Governors will follow!”

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.