Florida Governor Ron DeSantis‘ re-election campaign released a television and digital ad Monday that is being aired by the Republican Party of Florida that highlights the importance of the governor’s immigration policies.
The ad comes after DeSantis dominated national news headlines last week after he sent 50 illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard as part of Florida’s program to send illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities in Democrat-controlled areas.
The one-minute ad focuses on the of Kiyan Michael, whose 21-year-old son was killed in a car after being hit by a twice-deported illegal immigrant.
“When our middle son, Brandon, left to go to work, he was only 21 years old, and the last words I said to him is, ‘I love you,’” Michael said. “And a twice-deported illegal ran into him and hit him so hard that he caused Brandon’s car to flip, and he killed him.”
“My child was killed by someone who should not have been here,” Michael continued. “This is what happens when we have open borders. We were able to go and meet with Governor DeSantis. He said, ‘I want to hear your son’s story.’ To see the compassion in his eyes and I saw the concern. He wanted to make sure other lives were protected.”
“And as a Governor, he truly has been upholding the oath that he took, which is to protect Floridians,” she concluded. “He not only talks a good talk, but he walks it. He’s been very strong on safety. He’s been very strong on law and order. He has made our state one of the safest states to be in. There’s no greater leader than Governor DeSantis because he didn’t just listen. He put action behind it.”
DeSantis has effectively used all the levers at his disposal to combat illegal immigration into his state, which has seemingly worsened since President Joe Biden (D) came into office.
DeSantis banned sanctuary cities in the state of Florida and requires state and local governments to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement; he deployed Florida law enforcement officers to the southern border to help Texas and Arizona combat Biden’s border crisis; he increased the sentence for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine into Florida, adding the latter to the list of drugs that can land a dealer life in prison if their product is the “proximate cause” of a person’s death.
In addition to sending illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities in Democrat-controlled areas, which DeSantis introduced a year ago, the governor said late last week that he would actually deport illegal immigrants back to their home countries if he could legally do so.
“I mean, I think that if the states could send, I would send [illegal immigrants] back to Mexico or back to the home country,” DeSantis said. “But here we are doing it voluntarily, they sign a release, and then they get a packet.”
WATCH:
“My child was killed by someone who should not have been here”
We released a new ad today to tell the story of a mother who tragically lost her son as a result of illegal immigration.
This tragedy is a result of open border policies & why @RonDeSantisFL fights to keep FL safe. pic.twitter.com/3nt57oCjzM
— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) September 19, 2022