Florida Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Gov. DeSantis Over Illegal Immigrant Flights

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Surfside, Florida, on July 3, 2021. Michael Reaves/Getty Images

A Florida judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis that challenged his use of state funds to transport illegal immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard earlier this year.

In September, the Republican governor confirmed that his administration flew illegal aliens from Texas to the wealthy Massachusetts island enclave. About 50 aliens of mostly Venezuelan origin were taken to the island, drawing a quick response from state and local officials, who mobilized the National Guard to transport them to a military base.

Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat, sued DeSantis and state officials over the move, which Leon Circuit Judge John C. Cooper rejected Monday. However, Cooper gave Pizzo two weeks to retool his lawsuit and submit it again.

“We’re talking about technical pleading issues, we’re not talking about the ultimate decision in this case, or anything else,” Cooper said Monday in Tallahassee, according to reporters in the courtroom. “Anything that I said by the way of hypotheticals, or whatever, should not be taken as a ruling or anything of that nature, for or against.”

The judge also said that he will “dismiss the complaint with leave to amend because I want the plaintiffs to argue or to allege in the complaint with some additional facts and clarity, similar to what I’ve heard today and similar to what’s in the response but I don’t think that’s in the complaint,” reported CBS News.

Lawsuit

Pizzo told reporters on Monday that the DeSantis administration lacks the authority to transport illegal immigrants. His lawsuit was seeking to block DeSantis from using any state funds to transport illegal immigrants.

“It’s not authorized in the Senate or the House for your dollars or my dollars to be spent in Texas,” Pizzo said, according to Politico.

But Cooper argued that Pizzo did not provide enough details or claims in the lawsuit that showed the program violated the Constitution. The judge also suggested that Pizzo’s lawsuit was targeting the wrong individuals.

Illegal immigrants gather, after being flown in from Texas on a flight funded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., on Sept. 15, 2022. Vineyard Gazette/Handout via Reuters

“I don’t know that there is an enforcement official in this, or that the governor is a quote-unquote enforcement official under this statute,” Cooper said, according to the report. “It seems to me the ability to sue the governor in this case depends upon other facts that might be unique to the situation here, which I think need to be alleged.”

In court papers, DeSantis’s lawyers argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because Pizzo lacked legal standing to pursue the case. They also said he did not show that the program was illegal.

The Sept. 14 flights from near San Antonio, Texas, to the Massachusetts island drew international headlines. Days after the flights, DeSantis indicated that he might fly more illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard or other Democrat-controlled areas.

Other than DeSantis, the governors of Texas and Arizona have bused individuals who crossed illegally into the U.S. from Mexico to Democrat areas like New York City, Chicago, and the District of Columbia. Earlier this week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced he bused the 300th bus with illegal aliens, sending it to Chicago.