Sheriff Grady Judd sent a legion of deputies after one illegal alien who made a career-ending mistake

The Biden administration’s catch-and-release disaster just came home to roost in Florida.

A violent illegal alien from Nicaragua put a federal agent in the hospital during a brutal five-minute fight in Polk County.

And Sheriff Grady Judd sent a legion of deputies after one illegal alien who made a career-ending mistake.

ICE agent hospitalized after vicious attack by repeat border crosser

Denis Corea Miranda thought he could disappear into the woodwork after attacking two Homeland Security Investigation agents in Lakeland, Florida on Tuesday morning.

The 21-year-old Nicaraguan national was dead wrong.

Sheriff Grady Judd wasn’t about to let some foreign criminal assault federal agents in his county and get away with it.

“If you’re here in this country, in this state, and certainly in this county, illegally, and you’re violent, you violated the laws – we’re going to take you into custody,” Judd declared at a Tuesday press conference.

https://twitter.com/RepDonaldsPress/status/1961048649292517759

The whole mess started when two HSI agents tracked Miranda to a residence on Buccaneer Drive in Lakeland.

They had good reason to be looking for him.

Miranda was already wanted on a deportation order and had a warrant out of Galveston, Texas for driving while intoxicated.

When the agents spotted Miranda getting into a truck with two other people, they followed the vehicle to Reynolds Road and pulled them over.

The moment they tried to arrest him, Miranda bolted.

One agent managed to tackle the fleeing suspect, but that’s when things turned violent.

For five full minutes, Miranda fought like his life depended on it.

Even after getting pepper-sprayed by the second agent, this career criminal managed to break free and disappear into nearby woods.

https://twitter.com/PolkCoSheriff/status/1960420442336038954

The agent who wrestled with Miranda suffered a serious shoulder injury and had to be hospitalized.

He’s expected to recover, but he never should have been put in that position in the first place.

Sheriff Judd unleashes everything he’s got to hunt down violent fugitive

When Sheriff Judd got word that a foreign national had attacked federal agents in his jurisdiction, he didn’t mess around.

“Legion” doesn’t begin to describe what Judd sent after Miranda.

Deputies, helicopters, drones, and K-9 units all joined the manhunt.

Miranda tried to hide on a loading dock at a local business, where he had the nerve to ask an employee for water.

Smart employee locked himself inside and called 911.

“Hey, I’ve seen the deputies out here. There’s this really strange person on our loading dock,” the employee told dispatchers.

By the time deputies arrived, Miranda had fled again.

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But you can’t outrun Grady Judd’s operation.

A lieutenant tracked him down shortly afterward and arrested him without further incident.

The booking photo tells the whole story – Miranda is grinning like an idiot while standing next to the deputies who just captured him.

That smile probably faded real quick when he learned about the state charges waiting for him.

Catch-and-release policies created this entire disaster

Here’s what should make you furious about this whole situation.

Miranda first got caught crossing the border illegally near Chula Vista, California back in 2021.

Under Trump, he would have been sent back to Nicaragua immediately.

But Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas had other plans.

“They gave him a court date and released him, that’s right, catch and release,” Sheriff Judd explained with obvious frustration.

Miranda never showed up for that court date – shocking, right?

Instead, he made his way to Texas where he got arrested for drunk driving in Galveston in July 2024.

Even then, the system failed.

Miranda was released on a measly $1,500 bond and promptly skipped town when he didn’t show up for court.

The warrant issued for his arrest was non-extradition, which means other jurisdictions won’t even bother holding him.

Court records show Miranda actually had the gall to claim he was a U.S. citizen during that arrest.

“Had they appropriately dealt with him instead of catch and release in 2021, none of this would have happened. Now he’s injured federal agents trying to do their job,” Judd said. “This is a broken federal immigration system.”

Every single word of that is true.

The real cost of Biden’s immigration disaster

You want to know what this really costs?

Sheriff Judd laid out the ugly math for taxpayers.

“It’s cost the taxpayers untold hundreds of thousands of dollars before all of this is over with,” he said. “And it never should have happened in the first place.”

Think about that for a minute.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in law enforcement resources, medical treatment, legal proceedings, and incarceration costs.

All because the Biden administration refused to enforce immigration law in 2021.

Miranda is now facing multiple felony charges in Florida including battery on a law enforcement officer, burglary of an occupied structure, and resisting arrest with and without violence.

Each charge gets enhanced penalties because of his illegal status under Florida law.

Sheriff Judd made it crystal clear what happens next.

“Upon conviction, he’ll go to state prison, and when he gets out, then he’ll be deported,” he said.

That’s how it’s supposed to work – justice first, deportation second.

The two other illegal aliens with Miranda were also detained, though they had the sense not to fight federal agents.

DHS reports 1000% increase in assaults on ICE agents

This attack on ICE agents isn’t some isolated incident.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem revealed on Friday that ICE agents are now facing a 1000% increase in assaults as they try to arrest criminal illegal aliens.

“These acts of violence are fueled by sanctuary politicians’ rhetoric vilifying our law enforcement,” Noem said.

When politicians spend years demonizing immigration enforcement, this is what you get.

Criminals like Miranda think they can attack federal agents and face no consequences.

They’re learning the hard way that Trump’s America doesn’t play games.

In California, another illegal alien got indicted for throwing cinderblocks at a Border Patrol agent during an anti-ICE protest.

He’s looking at 20 years in federal prison.

Sheriff Judd said this was the first time to his knowledge that a federal immigration agent had been injured in the line of duty in Polk County.

“There is this illusion that all of these folks that are here are just wanting to work and do good. Well, a percentage of them are, but a lot of them are here and they don’t want to go back,” Judd explained.

That’s the reality Democrats refuse to acknowledge.

Not every illegal alien is some struggling family looking for opportunity.

Some are career criminals who will fight law enforcement to stay in the country illegally.

The Biden administration’s policies enabled this violence by sending the message that immigration law doesn’t matter.

Sheriff Judd and President Trump are sending a very different message.

Come here illegally and attack our law enforcement, and you’ll face the full weight of American justice.

¹ Anita Padilla, “Federal immigration agent injured in Polk County during illegal alien arrest, police say,” Fox 35 Orlando, August 27, 2025.

² Randy Clark, “’Legion’ of Florida Sheriff’s Deputies Sent to Arrest Illegal Alien for Alleged Assault of ICE Agents,” Breitbart, August 27, 2025.

³ Fox 35 Digital Staff, “Federal agent injured in Florida during arrest of man in U.S. illegally, Polk sheriff says,” Fox 35 Orlando, August 26, 2025.