Florida legislature to consider boosting DeSantis’s migrant flight program
Ryan King
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Florida’s legislature is poised to consider expanding Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) controversial migrant flight program during a special session this week.
Last year, DeSantis’s office orchestrated two flights that carried roughly 50 illegal immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, sparking outrage from Democrats. Now the legislature is set to consider establishing an “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program” to build upon that.
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“The federal government has proven itself unwilling to address this crisis. To mitigate the effects of this crisis on the state of Florida, there is hereby created the Unauthorized Alien Transport Program within the Department of Transportation for the purpose of facilitating the transport of inspected unauthorized aliens, within the United States, consistent with federal law,” a description of the proposal reads.
Legislative leaders called for a special session last week to consider bolstering the flight program. They are also set to address election laws and Disney’s self-governing Reedy Creek Improvement District, which lost its status as a special district last year after the company protested the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” by detractors.
Top Republicans in both chambers sent memos to members raising concerns about the “influx of migrants landing in the Florida Keys,” per Politico. Last month, DeSantis mobilized the Florida National Guard in response to the number of immigrants from Haiti and Cuba who have reached the Florida Keys. He also got $12 million in the budget for the program. Much of the funding derived from federal COVID-19 relief money.
DeSantis and Florida’s government are facing multiple lawsuits over the migrant flight to Martha’s Vineyard last year. His flight gambit last year came amid similar efforts from Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and others who decided to bus illegal immigrants from their states to areas that are Democratic strongholds.
The governor has defended the move and blasted the Biden administration for not enforcing the country’s border laws. During fiscal 2022, border encounters topped a record-breaking 2.76 million, according to data from Customs and Border Protection.
“We’ve had a deterrent effect,” DeSantis said during a news conference last week. “People are sick of having an open border with no rule of law in this country, so we can just sit here and do nothing about it, or we can actually stand up and say, ‘Whatever tools we have at our disposal, we’re going to use.’”
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DeSantis is widely seen as a rising star within the Republican Party and a potentially formidable challenger to former President Donald Trump, who announced his 2024 campaign last year.
The Florida legislature’s regular session is slated to commence in early March.