Jacksonville council passes ordinance tightening use of city funds for noncitizen services after lengthy debate

Councilman Rory Diamond (District 13) introduced an ordinance (No. 2025-0138) aimed at restricting city-funded services for people who are not in the country legally and establishing reporting requirements for recipients of city funds. After two hours of discussion and several amendments, the Rules Committee passed the bill 5–3.

Diamond said the ordinance is intended to “figure out what’s going on” and to ensure taxpayer funds are spent on people legally in Jacksonville. “This bill starts to get at those questions,” he said, describing what he called a crisis tied to federal border policy and saying the city has “no idea” how many noncitizen residents are receiving city-funded services.

Supporters said the measure sets a legislative standard and reporting framework. Councilman Terrence Freeman (At-large, Group 1) said he would support the bill after negotiating exemptions and reporting language, and later offered an amendment the sponsor accepted to exclude certain services.

The committee adopted three substantive amendments before final passage: - An amendment from Councilman Freeman exempted UF Health’s indigent-care contract, carved out services for victims of labor and sex trafficking, and exempted Kids Hope Alliance (KHA) recipients for one year to allow coordination with the Duval County Public Schools. - An amendment from Councilman Mike Boylan narrowed the community-services language by inserting the word “knowingly” into the Cultural Services Grant (CSG) provision to reduce enforcement risk for grantees that cannot reasonably know patrons’ immigration status. - Several smaller changes moved language toward reporting and clarified implementation responsibilities for the administration.

City and administration staff said they support narrowing the reach where needed and working on implementation language. Brady Nordstrom, representing the administration, told the committee the mayor has not declared Jacksonville a sanctuary city and said the administration “upholds the law” while offering to work with Council on targeted exemptions and implementation details.

Opponents warned of unintended consequences. Dr. Rockman Johnson said federal numbers and local data do not show a crisis; he said sweeping local restrictions risk harming residents who are unaware of their immigration status and could deter people from seeking essential services. Councilman Matt Carlucci and others said they feared the measure could create burdens for nonprofits, hospitals and schools.

The final, twice-amended bill passed on the Rules Committee floor by voice and ballot votes. The committee recorded a final roll-call tally of 5 yeas and 3 nays. The ordinance as amended requires city departments and city-funded recipients to report use of funds listed in the bill and establishes the exemptions listed above; implementation and enforcement details were left to the administration to develop.

Votes at the Rules Committee on June 2, 2025: The committee recorded a final vote of 5 yeas, 3 nays (bill 2025-0138 passes). The Freeman and Boylan amendments passed on committee votes before the final tally.

What remains: The ordinance sets reporting requirements but leaves enforcement mechanics and exemptions to the administration and future ordinance language. Councilmembers and administration staff said they expect follow-up work (technical amendments and implementation plans) to refine how reporting will be collected and how contract recipients will demonstrate compliance.