Florida lawmakers have approved an expansion of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s relocation program for illegal immigrants, handing him the authority to transport such individuals from anywhere to anywhere in the country, including to blue states.
The measure establishes the Unauthorized Alien Transport Program within the Division of Emergency Management, expanding on a program enacted by DeSantis last year that enabled officials to fly illegal immigrants to blue states that have sanctuary policies in place.
The legislation also allocates $10 million for the program, while also stating that money spent in the past on immigrant relocation efforts are “deemed approved.” That bolsters the governor’s position in the face of possible legal challenges.
Last year, DeSantis used taxpayer funds to fly dozens of illegal immigrants to the wealthy enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, from Texas, which he said was a response to the Biden administration’s failed policies on immigration.
Democrats called the move a political stunt, with Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo suing DeSantis as a private citizen, claiming the governor misused taxpayer money. Since the newly passed measure addresses the issue of past allocation of taxpayer funds to prior relocation efforts, it could potentially nullify the lawsuit.
The bill, which now heads to DeSantis’s desk for signature, was opposed by state Democrats.
“This bill is indefensible,” Florida state Rep. Christopher Benjamin, a Democrat, said on the House floor. “Stop playing games with people’s lives.”
Republican lawmakers countered that the bill will help people who want to travel to so-called sanctuary cities voluntarily.
“They’re going to get more benefits in a sanctuary state or city than they would here, and we’re simply providing them with a free ticket,” said Florida state Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin, a Republican.
In a statement to media outlets, DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said that the governor would review the bill and “decide on the merits” before applying his signature.
Other details of the bill include authorizing DeSantis’s administration to further expand the relocation program by granting contracts to companies that will implement its provisions.
When DeSantis relocated illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard several months ago, his administration awarded a contract to Vertol Systems to charter flights.
‘Disaster Area’
DeSantis and other state Republicans have said that the relocation program deserves a funding boost because of the sharp increase in the number of people crossing the U.S.–Mexico border illegally.“We can just sit here and do nothing about it, or we can actually stand up and say, ‘Whatever tools we have at our disposal, we are going to use,’” DeSantis said last week.
Several weeks ago, hundreds of Cuban and Haitian migrants arrived in the Florida Keys, with Republican leaders in the state Legislature saying that part of the reason to expand the relocation program was “to respond to the influx.”
State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, who sponsored the bill, said during a committee hearing on the measure that “the state of Florida is currently in a state of emergency because of the ineptness and the incompetence of the federal government when it comes to immigration policy.”
“In fact, I would say that someone should declare the federal government itself its own disaster area,” Ingoglia added.
“The Federal Government has failed to secure the nation’s borders” and has “proven itself unwilling to address this crisis,” the bill reads.
Further, “without such action” by Florida lawmakers, there’s the potential for “detrimental effects” such as “increased crime, diminished economic opportunities and wages for American workers, and burdens on the education and health care systems.”Other Republican governors also have taken measures in recent months that call attention to what they say are the administration’s failed immigration policies, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. They both sought to bolster border security with steps such as sending National Guard service members to high-traffic areas and using shipping containers to erect makeshift walls.
