Oracle actor Samuel Isaiah Hunter spoke in defense of human rights at a Jacksonville City Council meeting on Tuesday. City lawmakers passed Ordinance 2025-0147 (proposed by Council Vice President Kevin Carrico) 12-5. Being an undocumented immigrant in Jacksonville could now result in up to 60 days in jail. It’s the kind of xenophobic policy Donald Trump aims to introduce and enforce across the U.S. As Hunter noted, it’s also guaranteed to result in racial profiling. That means even more suffering for marginalized communities that already struggle under capitalism and white supremacy.
Samuel Isaiah Hunter vs. Jacksonville City Council
Those speaking out against authoritarian policies face censorship at every level .”It is not those that have immigrated to this country we should be afraid of,” said Hunter. It’s actually the people that I’m looking at right now.” As Hunter pointed out, if the Jacksonville City Council cared about public safety, it wouldn’t allow the construction of a new 50,000-sqft. morgue in Brentwood. Community residents have spoken out against the project and its impact on the local housing market as well as the potential psychological impact on children in the area.
Jacksonville didn’t stop at legalizing an immigration detention policy that will inevitably lead to racial profiling, however. It also directed $76,250 in unused Economic Development Grant money to fund new fingerprint scanners for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office [JSO]. The new scanners will join the 150 already owned by the Sherrif’s Office. These surveillance tools will allow officers to run the fingerprints and check the immigration status of anyone they suspect. As U.S. history has proven countless times, many people will suffer as a result, regardless of their immigration status.
“I Find It Both Irrational and Ironic”
A new morgue, a new jail, new scanners, and new laws that will disproportionately harm marginalized communities: Jacksonville has plenty on its plate. It’s little wonder a TikTok video of Hunter’s statement received numerous words of encouragement. One commenter summed up the list of wrongs, saying, “A morgue, a jail and overpolicing, wow.” Hunter highlighted the hypocrisy of the Jacksonville City Council, saying,
I find it both irrational and ironic that you cite public safety as the reason for you to essentially grant JSO permission through these ordinances to racially profile, stop, question, and forcibly scan the fingerprints of citizens of Jacksonville […]
Racial profiling doesn’t keep communities safer; it does the opposite. Overpolicing won’t help the people of Jacksonville anymore than driving down property values with a morgue will. Thankfully, Samuel Isaiah Hunter is far from the only voice to speak out for the people of Florida. If ever there were a time to get loud, it’s now.
