They were supposed to be the true believers, the ones who could be counted on to take a harsh and unyielding stance toward people living in this country who weren’t entitled to be here.

And in many ways, that’s still exactly who they are. But the four sheriffs and four police chiefs chosen to advise Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet on immigration issues were united Monday behind one idea: Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and immigration officials should stop wasting time and resources, deporting people whose only offense was in overstaying their welcome. They even had a phrase for it: People who are in the country “inappropriately.” Good choice.

“There are those here who are working hard, who have been living and working in this community for 20 or 30 years,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who was appointed last year to head the council. “They have kids in college, kids in school. They are going to church on Sunday. They are not violating the law, they are living the American dream, being very productive and doing good.”

That dream can shift to nightmares if police discover their names among the 1.5 million detainer and deportation orders that immigration officials have dumped into a national database set up to inform police of any outstanding warrants. Many of them don’t even realize they are on the list. But their name comes up and they are wrenched from the lives they’ve built. And police agencies know what lies ahead: Transportation to a regional facility (in this area, the Orange County jail) and eventually a detention center. And within months, sometimes within weeks, many of them will be led onto planes in shackles and flown back to a life and country they left behind decades ago.

Some of them will not even have the services of an attorney before their lives are stripped away. Had they been charged with a crime, they would have been assigned a public defender. But they are not accused. So they stand alone, unaware of their rights and defenses, unless their families can afford private counsel. And first, their families have to find them.

We’re not sure what Judd expected from the other members of the council when he started talking about the issue during a scheduled meeting being held via Zoom on Monday. What he heard was swift agreement from every law-enforcement official at the meeting. First Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri spoke up: “What’s right is right, and what’s not is not,” he said.

St. Cloud Police Chief Doug Goerke: “Folks who are preying on the people in our community?” he said. “I will go after them all day long.” But when his officers look into the eyes of someone who hasn’t committed a crime, but whose life is about to be hit by a bomb, it becomes clear: Something has to change.

Most of them agreed that people whose only blemish came from a low-level encounter with immigration authorities deserved a chance at remaining in this country, earning permanent resident status and perhaps even citizenship.

Most Americans agree with that — and more. Opinion polls show steady support for a path to citizenship for people who have arrests on their record for low-level offenses, or who have been picked up once or twice before but failed to act to resolve their status. And there’s a growing disgust for the far more draconian tactics utilized by ICE law enforcement, some of whom target anyone with a notable accent or foreign name for questioning and sometimes detention.Under Donald Trump — whom Judd describes as a friend — this nation’s immigration-enforcement apparatus has become an international disgrace. It’s a battle with far too many innocent casualties. And many supporters of Trump and DeSantis have privately expressed the belief that things have simply gone too far.

Those people should listen to the tape of the meeting where Judd, Gualtieri and others talk about this issue. Where they say they are tired of spending officer time dragging people to jail on ICE warrants instead of tracking down violent criminals in their own communities. Where they tacitly admit — without saying a word — that they want to think of themselves as men who stand up for what is right. Who know what they are being told to do is wrong;k

Immigration is a thorny issue, but there are clearly areas where nearly everyone agrees. And here is one of them: Burning down the lives of people who have committed no crimes, who have offended only by being in this country “inappropriately,” is wrong. And it should stop.

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The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Executive Editor Roger Simmons and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Use insight@orlandosentinel.com to contact us.

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