Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has announced a major new crackdown to tackle illegal immigration and human smuggling.
DeSantis has unveiled an extensive legislative proposal to take action against the increasing threats posed by illegal immigration.
The move seeks to tackle the problems caused by Democrat President Joe Biden’s failure to secure our nation’s borders.
DeSantis wants to increase penalties for human smuggling, strengthen statutes for the detention of illegal aliens, require universal use of E-Verify, enhance penalties for document falsification, and prohibit the issuance by local governments of ID cards to people who are not lawfully in the country.
“With this legislation, Florida is continuing to crack down on the smuggling of illegal aliens, stopping municipalities from issuing ID cards to people here illegally, and ensuring that employers are hiring American citizens or those here legally,” said Gov. DeSantis.
“Florida is a law and order state, and we won’t turn a blind eye to the dangers of Biden’s Border Crisis.
“We will continue to take steps to protect Floridians from reckless federal open border policies.”
BREAKING: Gov. Ron DeSantis announces new plan to combat “Biden’s border crisis”
– Require ALL employers use E-Verify
– Increase penalties for human smuggling
– Crack down on nonprofits creating IDs for illegal migrants
– Invalidate all out-of-state licenses for illegal migrants pic.twitter.com/cv3Sb7tWL4— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) February 23, 2023
“Human smuggling, drug trafficking, and a host of other criminal activities are steadily spilling across the Southern Border and into our state, as bad actors seek to exploit the hard-earned wealth and hard-won freedoms of our citizens for criminal gain,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said in a statement.
“In tandem with our continued vigilance and cooperation with our law enforcement partners across the state, the initiatives championed today by Governor DeSantis will help to keep Floridians safer than ever, protecting our citizens from malefactors who are illegally in our state and removing them from our communities altogether.”
“The border crisis this nation is experiencing is a direct result of the federal government refusing to enforce immigration laws,” said Republican State Senator Blaise Ingoglia.
“The problem is so bad that the federal government should declare itself its own disaster area.
“It is reckless and an abomination and our Governor will not stand by idly as this open-borders agenda continues to take over our families, friends, and our communities.
“As a matter of fact, he will boldly push Florida as the blueprint by which other states should fight illegal immigration.”
The legislation will invalidate all out-of-state licenses to unauthorized aliens, require those registering to vote to affirm they are United States citizens and legal residents of Florida, prevent unauthorized immigrants from being admitted to practice law, and eliminate out-of-state tuition fee waivers for undocumented immigrant students.
Additionally, the proposal requires hospitals to collect data on the immigration status of patients and the costs to provide care to illegal aliens and regularly report the data to the governor and Florida Legislature.
As directed by Executive Order 21-223, this data was collected and during the 2021-22 Fiscal Year healthcare costs for illegal aliens in Florida was nearly $340 million.
Taxpayers were on the hook for more than two-thirds of this cost.
The increased penalties for human smuggling follow the recommendations of the grand jury impaneled by the Florida Supreme Court at DeSantis’s request and will:
- Make it a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, and five years of probation, to knowingly transport, conceal, or harbor an illegal alien within or into the state
- Make it a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, if the illegal alien is younger than 18 years old
- Specify that a person commits a separate offense for each individual transported, concealed, or harbored and allow transported individuals to be detained by law enforcement as material witnesses.
JUST IN: Gov. Ron DeSantis proposes requiring voters swear, under penalty of perjury, they are citizens of the U.S.
“Are you gonna have some diplomat from the CCP voting in D.C. elections? […] If you’re not a citizen of this country, you should not be voting in our elections.” pic.twitter.com/9pd5LplsGr
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) February 23, 2023
READ MORE: MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Comes Clean about Falsely Smearing DeSantis: ‘I Was Imprecise’
