Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has accused the state of leading President-elect Donald Trump's deportation program, saying the state has “suspended” employees who “neglected their duties.” He pointed out that he had the authority to do so.
“Today, I am calling for a special session of the Florida Legislature the week of January 27th to prepare Florida to lead the Trump Administration's deportation program,” DeSantis announced Monday. The administration will “allocate resources and ensure that state and local officials are able to secure deportations.” The state of Florida supports these efforts. ”
“There's no time to waste. Florida has to lead,” he said. “During the special session, we must also address important issues facing the state, including the integrity of ballot initiatives, disaster relief, and condominium regulations.”
“We also need to take steps to hold accountable those who violate our anti-sanctuary policies,” DeSantis said, speaking from the Florida Capitol. We need to do that,” he said. is in an illegal state. ”
“Accordingly, I intend to call Congress into special session beginning the week of January 27th. “It will be issued,” he predicted. ”
“It's going to take some time to make sure we do what we need to do. But then we need to act, and we need to act quickly,” he said, acknowledging that this is a mandate from the American people. revealed.
The American people spoke very clearly about all the issues out there, and there were a lot of very important issues. This border and illegal immigration issue is one of the top issues in the 2024 election and has been one of the top issues in this country for many years. As such, new legislation would be needed in Florida that would clarify the obligations of both state and local officials and require them to assist the federal government in this regard. Now the states, we're going to do it, because I'm going to order the states to do it.
Some of that will require funding, DeSantis said, and he will ask Congress for funding. But the governor said it would “help with overall public safety,” citing the looters arrested after the hurricane in the Sunshine State, many of whom were undocumented immigrants.
Yes, enforcing immigration laws is itself important. If you remember the hurricane earlier, there was looting in Pinellas County. I think 45 of them were arrested over a period of time, and 40 of them were in this country illegally. And I'm just thinking to myself, how on earth is this happening here in the middle of a natural disaster, there are people coming here without permission and they're out and about. Trying to loot the place. Please give me a break.
These people must be deported “immediately,” DeSantis continued. Ultimately, DeSantis said, this would help “the overall situation, even outside of immigration.”
DeSantis also threatened to use executive authority to suspend officials who do not comply with deportation orders.
“Accountability is critical now, those duties are clear in the law, and if they fail in their duties, I have the power to suspend them, just because it was appropriate in the past. “That's the authority I had when I was there,” he said.
“We also need to make sure there's no incentive for people to enter the country illegally. We instituted E-Verify. People said it couldn't happen. We really did. Maybe by 2023. “It's the strongest law in the country in 2014. So I think Florida has done a really great job with one exception remaining in 2014,” he added.
See the full press release below.
The announcement comes nearly a month after DeSantis celebrated Florida State's anniversary. booming In light of critics who falsely claimed that his crackdown on illegal immigration would hurt the state's economy. The crackdown included the Florida Legislature passing a bill. need Mandating E-Verify rules for employment and suspending licenses for businesses that employ illegal immigrants.
“Florida's best-in-the-nation bill to combat illegal immigration has generated a classic set of misinformation,” DeSantis said in December.
“The spread of stories like this shows that good policy pays dividends. “The goal needs to be to discourage illegal immigration, rather than encourage more illegal immigration, as is common across the United States,” he added.
