Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said this week that illegal immigrants wanting to come to Florida “would not be welcome.”
“To those who have entered the country illegally, fair warning: do not come to Florida,” DeSantis said. “Life will not be easy for you, because we are obligated to uphold the immigration laws of this country, even if our federal government and other states won’t.”
DeSantis continued his comments by saying the illegal immigrants have even done a “disservice” to the Biden administration.
“If you have come here illegally, you have done a great disservice by the Biden administration,” DeSantis’ office said. “They have encouraged you to make dangerous treks, oftentimes at great physical distress to you and your family. Sometimes, this has even meant putting your fate into the hands of dangerous coyotes and human traffickers. There is a legal process to obtain full American citizenship, which is an essential part of the promise of America. In Florida, we will uphold the law.”
DeSantis is not a stranger to taking on the Biden administration’s lackadaisical approach to handling the crisis on the southern border. Earlier this month, DeSantis blamed Biden’s policies on the death of a couple in Daytona Beach after they were murdered by an illegal immigrant who was previously in custody in Orange County, Florida where State Attorney Aramis Ayala dropped charges to a different crime.
“Floridians should not be subject to the reckless open border policies that the Biden administration is imposing on this country,” said DeSantis at the time of the murders. “These policies are deadly — we also need answers as to why the State Attorney’s Office dropped charges against the defendant.”
DeSantis and the Florida Legislature agreed to set aside $12 million from the budget of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to fund the busing of illegal immigrants out of Florida.
The state of Florida also joined in a lawsuit with other states suing the federal government for reinstating an Obama-era policy that allows illegal immigrants to enter the United States and remain.
“After seeing the chaos in person, it is even more clear to me now that Biden and [Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas are building their own illegal organization to transport illegal immigrants into and around our country – thumbing their noses at federal laws,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said. “I will not only work aggressively to stop these illegal acts, but I will continue to inform Floridians about what their federal government is actually doing, and the dangers associated with those decisions.”
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at the Florida Capital Star and the Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “Ron DeSantis” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Illegal Immigrants” by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
