Florida Governor DeSantis unveils hardline immigration package
DeSantis, a likely 2024 U.S. presidential candidate, has signed into law a bill that would restrict access to health care and employment.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a multi-pronged immigration bill that will increase funds for his state’s controversial relocation program and raise barriers for undocumented migrants and asylum seekers trying to access health care and employment.
The bill comes as DeSantis gears up for an anticipated presidential run in the United States that would likely pit him against former president and current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
At a signing ceremony Wednesday in Jacksonville, Florida’s most populous city, DeSantis targeted another 2024 presidential candidate, Democratic incumbent Joe Biden. He spoke from a lectern emblazoned with the phrase “Biden’s border crisis,” echoing complaints Republicans have raised against the Democrat’s immigration policies.
“We are bracing for some turbulent times ahead,” DeSantis said at the event. “You’ll probably see it get a lot worse.”
The new immigration package includes requirements that hospitals collect data on the migration status of patients using Medicaid, a federal health program for low-income households. It also requires companies with more than 25 employees to use E-Verify, which checks whether an applicant is legal to work in the US.
“Florida penalizes immigrants for having the misfortune of being born in countries in turmoil and having the courage to seek peace and prosperity here,” Tessa Petit, head of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said in a statement.
DeSantis has yet to announce a presidential run, but it is believed he will challenge Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination. 36 points below Republican primary voters.
Florida’s governor has tried to polish his conservative credentials by taking a tough stance on immigration. The new legislation includes funds for DeSantis to continue a practice of transporting immigrants and asylum seekers elsewhere in the country, using buses and flights.
Critics have dismissed the practice as a brutal political stunt, saying the migrants are often given little information about their destination and few resources once they arrive.
The practice received widespread attention in September, when about 50 undocumented migrants were flown from San Antonio, Texas, to the vacation island of Martha’s Vineyard in Democrat-led Massachusetts on behalf of DeSantis.
“Instead of using people as political pawns, he should focus on the work in Florida,” Florida Senate Democratic leader Lauren Book said in a statement Wednesday.
DeSantis has insisted the practice is intended to underscore criticism of Biden’s border policies, which he blames for record levels of irregular migration.
“Florida will not be a haven that allows illegal aliens to take over our laws,” DeSantis said in a Twitter post Wednesday.
The governor has also joined the kind of anti-immigrant rhetoric that Trump has put at the center of his appeal to Republican voters. For example, speakers at Wednesday’s signing ceremony highlighted crimes committed by people without legal immigration status.