White House says squatting is a ‘local issue’ as it plagues the country: Karine Jean-Pierre says property owners need to be ‘protected,’ but won’t say if Biden supports Ron DeSantis’ new law

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday called the squatting a “local issue” and would not say whether President Joe Biden would support a new Florida law signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

There are disturbing stories across the country of strangers moving into properties whose owners are unable to evict them.

DeSantis, a former 2024 presidential candidate, signed a law that would allow state law enforcement to remove squatters and punish them more severely.

“So my understanding is that this is clearly a local problem,” Jean-Pierre said. ‘We are certainly keeping an eye on this issue. The rights of property owners and tenants must be protected.”

“What ultimately needs to happen for local government is to make sure they address this and take action,” she added.

Carrie Black-Phillips, whose family owns a property in Milton, Florida, points out a warrant now posted on the house as she cleans up the mess left by squatters

When Jean-Pierre was asked specifically how DeSantis is trying to address the problem in Florida, he called it “hypothetical.”

“What I can say is that this is ultimately a local issue,” the press secretary reiterated. ‘And it is crucial that local authorities take action to tackle this. Again, everyone wants the same thing. We want to feel safe in our community. That’s what they want.’

Jean-Pierre’s response is unlikely to appease Republicans, who have lately viewed squatting as a powerful political issue — another sign, they say, that Democrats are weak on crime.

High-profile agencies have also drawn attention to the problem.

Just a few doors down from where basketball star Lebron James bought a $36.75 million Beverly Hills property — and demolished it to make way for a new dream home — a group of squatters took over a mansion and spent months throwing huge frenzy.

The squatters only recently cleared the property – after a series of attacks, fires and arrests that are said to have left the basketball star ‘very concerned’.

At a press conference last week, DeSantis announced, “We’re putting an end to the squatter scam in Florida.”

Carrie Black-Phillips shows off the trash left behind at her family’s Florida estate, including drug paraphernalia, as her family tries to clean up the mess left by squatters and fights to keep them from coming back to the house.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation last week that would make it easier for homeowners to evict squatters. “While other states side with squatters, we protect property owners and punish criminals who want to game the system,” he said.

“While other states side with squatters, we protect property owners and punish criminals who want to game the system,” Florida’s governor said.

He said the new law would make evicting illegal tenants easy.

‘If you are the victim of a burglary, you can simply fill out a form, give it to your local sheriff and the sheriff will be instructed to remove the people living in your home illegally. And that will happen very soon,” DeSantis said.

In a Semafor story On the issue, Democratic Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani blamed DeSantis for making the crackdown more partisan than it should be.

Every Democrat in Florida also approved the bill.

“The rhetoric that the governor used was not discussed anywhere during the (legislative) process. Leave it to DeSantis to make every issue partisan,” Eskamani told Semafor.