Gov. Ron DeSantis wants lawmakers to approve an $8 million budget recommendation to relocate illegal immigrants away from Florida. The proposal stems, in part, from the series of middle-of-the-night flights carrying illegal immigrants to the state. One of those flights is blamed for carrying a man from Honduras who while posing as a minor allegedly murdered a man in Florida.
“It’s a huge burden to communities,” DeSantis said of the flights during a Dec. 10 press conference in Jacksonville. “No taxpayer benefits to those coming illegally.”
According to DeSantis, private-sector contractors have been hired by the federal government to transport illegal aliens from border states and elsewhere to Florida without advance notice to local authorities. More than 80 of those flights took place earlier this year.
Those flights ceased during the course of the last six weeks after DeSantis called attention to them nationally.
“Since this became a big deal, it has been at least six weeks since the last flight came,” DeSantis said.
The next step is to identify ways to penalize those private contractors from doing business in Florida.
“There is a list of contractors who are going to be put on notice that once you do (business) with the federal government, and you’re facilitating illegal migration, and you’re imposing burdens on Florida, you’re forfeiting your right to have any relationship with state or local government, and then we are going to do the restitution as well.”
In addition to the transport flights, other illegal immigrants were brought into the state by buses and by human smugglers some of whom have been apprehended by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).
In addition to the relocation proposal, DeSantis’ budget also recommends $2.4 million for the enforcement of E-Verify, the web-based system that allows employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the U.S.
“We gave a responsibility to stand up for the rule of law – for the Constitution,” DeSantis said. “These changes will put us in a good position to help the people of Florida.”
Editor’s Note: The article and headline were corrected from $800 million to $8 million budget recommendation. We apologize for the error.
