ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings is standing by comments he made about the Florida attorney general’s age and experience, a day after the two clashed over immigration enforcement.
Speaking to News 6 Thursday, Demings said, “I said what I said at that point” in reference to remarks he made Wednesday about James Uthmeier being 37 years old.
“I’ve spent more years on the streets of Florida patrolling our streets as a law enforcement officer than he’s been alive,” Demings said Wednesday.
Uthmeier addressed Demings’ comments during a press conference Wednesday.
“I know the mayor said some disparaging things about me,” Uthmeier said. “That’s all fine and good. My response is, ‘Look at the law.’”
[WATCH: Florida attorney general demands Orange County agree to transport immigrants to ICE facilities]
The contentious back-and-forth this week came after Uthmeier sent a letter to Orange County leaders, warning that they could face repercussions, such as removal from office, if they do not agree to a modified ICE agreement.
Demings has thus far refused to sign the addendum, which would authorize Orange County corrections personnel to transport inmates with ICE detainers to ICE-approved facilities like Alligator Alcatraz.
Demings claimed he only saw the letter after it was made public and reported by the media. The ICE-proposed addendum will be broached at the County Commission’s next meeting Tuesday.
[WATCH: Orange County mayor pushes back on Florida attorney general’s demands]
“I’m not going to get in front of that,” Demings said, when News 6’s Mike Valente asked him if he plans to stay the course and refuse to sign the agreement. “Just stay tuned.”
Demings again reiterated his desire for the county to secure a more favorable reimbursement rate from the federal government for housing federal inmates as part of an intergovernmental service agreement.
While it costs about $145 per day to house an inmate in the Orange County Jail, the federal government reimburses the county $88 of that cost for federal inmates, according to the mayor and other county officials.
“To date, the state hasn’t kicked in any money in terms of whatever the difference is,” Demings said, when we asked whether the state has contributed financially to the housing of inmates on ICE detainers. “We’re working with the comptroller’s office to really validate what the true cost is for Orange County to hold federal inmates in our facilities.”
When asked about Uthmeier’s comments that Demings made “disparaging” remarks about the attorney general, Demings largely dismissed them.
“I’m not going to go there,” he said. “I mean, I said what I said at that point. We’ll move forward. The state had not had great communication about the immigration issues. We just got a letter release via the media. They didn’t even afford us the courtesy of directly sending the letter to us. And so, I don’t know, when you say ‘disparaging ‘— we’re going to move forward.”