Ron DeSantis, the GOP Governor of Florida, has recently increased his criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of immigration. Specifically, DeSantis detailed how various law enforcement professionals have told him that numerous illegal migrants encountered at the border are barreling straight towards the Sunshine State.
DeSantis’s criticism of Biden emerges just after he returned from his own trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, which was motivated by his desire to help Texas through sending Florida law enforcement assistance to help quell the rising crisis regarding illegal immigration. DeSantis, however, quickly became “surprised” by revelations from border officials regarding illegal migrants’ intent to barrel straight towards Florida.
Noting that border officials have made “over 100 felony arrests” and “over 2,000 apprehensions,” DeSantis observed that 70 percent of apprehended illegals have indicated that their ultimate destination of choice is Florida. Thus, “if you think having a wide-open border, 1,000 miles … doesn’t affect here, you’re wrong,” DeSantis continued.
While the statistics cited by DeSantis could not be independently verified, the state has opted to send its own law enforcement forces to Texas regardless, particularly after pleas for help were issued from Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey in June.
DeSantis railed against the Biden administration by noting that the entire crisis could “turn around very quickly” if Biden were to institute policies from the Trump era, the same policies that Biden undid with executive orders near-immediately after he assumed office. More specifically, DeSantis called for reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” program spearheaded under Trump, which forced illegal migrants to remain in Mexico while their immigration requests were processed by USCIS.
In addition, if “a huge percentage [of migrants] are going to try to come to Florida,” the state will face an enormous impact on health care, community services, and education, which will significantly affect “taxpayers to a huge, huge extent,” DeSantis added, particularly when the Biden administration is currently “paying for tickets on buses and flying [migrants] around.”
DeSantis is not the only GOP legislator that has levied strong criticism against Biden’s inadequate response to the ballooning crisis at the border. However, Biden has argued that his administration presumably received a dysfunctional immigration system, which is why he apparently had to reverse various Trump immigration policies that he claimed were inhumane and cruel.
