Florida Legislature Passes Bill Approving Program to Relocate Illegal Immigrants

Florida lawmakers approved Friday a new immigration program to allow Governor Ron DeSantis’s office to move illegal immigrants from any part of the country to Democratic-led state and sanctuary cities.

On Friday, the Florida Senate approved the “Unauthorized Alien Transportation Program”. DeSantis will then approve the measure. The legislation allocates $10 million to Florida’s Department of Emergency Management for the program. A spokesperson for the governor stated that he would review the bill in its final form and make a decision on the merits of it as presented.

The bill officially creates the program. It was initially launched unofficially last summer to allow government officials and migrants to be sent to refugee cities across the country. This expansion will allow Sunshine State to move migrants from any state within the country.

This provision was made after Jason Pizzo, a Democratic state senator from Miami, sued DeSantis over the September flight of 49 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. Pizzo claimed that the relocation was in violation of state law as the illegal immigrants were moved from Texas and not Florida.

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Friday’s legislation would allow for the “transport of inspected unauthorized aliens inside the United States.” According to the bill, unauthorized aliens are individuals who have “documentation” from the United States Government that indicates that the United States Government processed and released them into the United States. This document is not required under the federal Immigration and Nationality act.

The law’s text criticizes federal government for failing to secure nation’s borders. It warns that if Florida lawmakers don’t act, there could be “detrimental consequences” such as increased crime, decreased economic opportunities, wages, and burdens on education and health care.

Democrats have criticized DeSantis’s efforts to relocate migrants from blue states to Republican governors as inhumane. However, John Snyder, a GOP state representative, argued that the Florida program was “humanitarian” in that it provides a free, chartered flight for migrants who wish to leave the country. The bill was sponsored by Snyder in the Florida House.

Paul Renner, the Florida House Speaker, said that the legislation was “never more important” after hearing about the arrival of at least 114 Haitian migrants in the Florida Keys by water on Thursday. After landing on Marquesas Keys, 26 more migrants were taken into custody.

Renner tweeted that “The Biden administration failed to secure our border.” “Florida won’t wait for Washington. We stand with @GovRonDeSantis in order to defend our state and fight the illegal immigration.

DeSantis stated last week that the relocation program had a “deterrent” effect on migrants who are considering moving to the Sunshine State.

He said, “People are sick to have an open border without any rule of law in the country.” “We have two options: we can either ignore it and continue to do nothing, or we can stand up and say, “Whatever tools are available, we will be using them.”