JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on Monday a criminal subpoena for Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration.
Uthmeier wrote on X, “If there’s evidence that her administration coordinated to impede immigration enforcement and harbor criminal aliens, we will hold them accountable!”
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis quoted Uthmeier’s post on X, saying “Florida law is clear that local officials must cooperate with federal law enforcement re: illegal immigration. This isn’t Minnesota.”
Action News Jax’s Jake Stofan obtained the subpoena, which asks for emails sent by the city’s Hispanic Outreach Coordinator, Yanira “Yaya” Cardona.
Copy of subpoena from @AGJamesUthmeier to @CityofJax shows the AG is seeking emails/texts/calls from the city’s Hispanic Outreach Coordinator related to immigration keywords and the woman recently arrested and accused of assaulting law enforcement during a local immigration… pic.twitter.com/cyjv5UXuWX
— Jake Stofan (@JakeStofan) February 9, 2026
Cardona was placed on administrative leave in January after a livestream she hosted on Instagram, where she warned viewers about federal immigration agents sighted around the city.
The following week, the city said Cardona resumed her duties.
The day after Cardona was placed on leave, Deegan said there was no part of Cardona’s message during the livestream that was wrong or illegal.
However, Deegan said Cardona didn’t check with the Mayor’s Office or the city’s communications office to get permission to make her video.
Stofan asked Uthmeier about the subpoena.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
“The Mayor said nothing wrong happened here. We disagree with that,” Uthmeier said.
Uthmeier suggested if Cardona collaborated with other individuals or groups to help immigrants evade law enforcement, it could violate state or even federal law.
“Yes, we could be looking at RICO. There could be some federal angles, but first and foremost, again, we got a law on the books, passed last February. Local officials have a duty to help the federal government carry out the law. There’s also in Florida we have anti-doxing laws. If you wanna flag personal information, location, details about law enforcement officers to try to harass them, scare them, threaten them or impede law enforcement operations that is a crime.”
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
In addition to Cardona’s emails, the subpoena also asks for any emails that mention Jennifer Cruz, a woman accused of assaulting law enforcement during an ICE operation in Jacksonville in January.
Cruz, who is facing federal charges, was released two weeks ago under strict conditions following a detention hearing.
Stofan is reaching out to the city for its reaction on the subpoena and will have the latest updates starting on CBS47 Action News Jax at Noon.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
