TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a bill to expand his migrant relocation program, furthering a key component of the Republican's conservative agenda ahead of his expected White House run.
DeSantis announced the signing of the bill in a short Twitter post that lobbed criticism at Democratic President Joe Biden.
“Florida is using all tools available to protect our citizens from Biden’s open border policies,” the post reads. “I am glad to have signed legislation to continue the program of transporting illegal aliens to sanctuary jurisdictions. I thank the legislature for maintaining this valuable tool.”
The legislation creates a dedicated program in the governor’s office on migrant relocation and specifies that the initiative can transport migrants located anywhere in the country, if they have been processed by the federal government.
The bill is meant to quell legal questions that have surrounded a flight last year when the governor's administration relocated a group of South American migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, but paid for the trip using money legally intended to move migrants who were located in Florida, not any other states.
The new law is almost certain to facilitate future migrant flights as DeSantis continues a focus on cultural flashpoints such as immigration, as well as near constant criticism of Biden and other Democrats, on his way to an anticipated presidential bid.
Republican state lawmakers in the GOP-dominated Legislature voted to approve the bill during a special session last week that centered on DeSantis priorities. They argued it would help migrants by taking them to sanctuary cities. Democrats slammed the program as a political stunt meant to serve the governor's national political ambitions.
“Some of these folks going to these sanctuary jurisdictions are in much better circumstances than just being stranded somewhere with nowhere to go,” DeSantis said at an unrelated news conference Wednesday.
