Lee County Sheriff’s Office is first agency to see its immigration request cut

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office became the first law enforcement agency in Florida to have part of its immigration enforcement grant request denied — but the reduction was never publicly discussed or voted on during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

In an eleventh hour revision, Lee County’s $23 million reimbursement request was slashed by nearly two-thirds — although it remains unclear whether that change was made by the county, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Cabinet member, or the State Board of Immigration Enforcement director.

$18 million of that would have paid for a six-year contract with an AI body cam company. The state will instead pay for $8.9 million of the total request and chose to reduce the coastal county’s contract to two-years with a $4.3 million price tag…

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