Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday announced new actions that his administration is taking to stop Democrat President Joe Biden from flooding the state with illegal aliens from the crisis that Biden created on the U.S.-Mexico border.
DeSantis’s office announced the following three actions in a statement:
- First, Governor DeSantis has issued Executive Order 21-223 to prohibit all Florida agencies under the purview of the Governor from facilitating illegal immigration into Florida, unless otherwise required by federal or state law, and require the collection of information from state officials on the scope and costs of illegal immigration in Florida.
- Second, Governor DeSantis announced the appointment of Larry Keefe, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, as Public Safety Czar to ensure the actions directed by the executive order are carried out.
- Finally, Governor DeSantis and Attorney General Moody announced that Florida has filed suit against the Biden Administration challenging its “catch and release” policy.
DeSantis has previously pressed the Biden administration to provide transparency concerning where they are shipping the illegal aliens in the state, and the administration refused to respond.
“Although President Biden has been in office for only 251 days, the number of encounters at the Southwest border has skyrocketed from 78,000 in January 2021 to more than 212,000 in July 2021. The 171% increase is alarming and is the highest in more than 20 years,” the statement said. “Additionally, the number of illegal aliens who were apprehended and subsequently released by the Border Patrol in July alone was a staggering 60,607, a massive increase from the 1,324 in this category who were released in January. By contrast, in the last full month of the Trump Administration, only 17 aliens in this category were released.”
DeSantis said at a press conference, “We’re not going to be a party to this lawlessness, we haven’t to my knowledge, but we’re letting the marker down, know that this is an absolute red line, we’re not going to do it. And the order prohibits our agencies from providing assistance to the feds or any other entity for the transportation of folks who are here illegally into Florida from the southwest border.”
DeSantis later said that Biden’s border crisis was “one of the biggest failures of the federal government in my lifetime and it’s a choice, they’re choosing failure by embracing bad policies.”
Quotes from other notable figures at the press conference included:
- Attorney General Ashley Moody: “The Biden administration’s brazen disregard for federal immigration law is jeopardizing the safety and security of our state and nation, all while costing Florida taxpayers. Biden’s lax border policy is an open invitation to dangerous criminals, human traffickers and drugs traffickers to enter the United States—creating a crisis at the southern border like we have never seen. Because Biden is not requiring those crossing the border to go through the legally mandated channels, they are coming into our country without being properly processed. The federal government cannot simply ignore federal laws because it does not agree with them politically. The Biden administration must implement the immigration policy required under federal law and we are asking the court to take swift action to reduce the harm caused by Biden’s inaction.”
- Larry Keefe, Public Safety Czar: “As a former U.S. Attorney, I saw illegal aliens that would get deported and come back, and then get deported and come back in an endless cycle. The states, including Florida, bear the brunt of this cycle. Over the coming weeks and months, our state agencies will be addressing the impacts illegal immigration has had on our state. I want to thank Governor DeSantis for appointing me to lead these efforts.”