FL Governor Sues Biden Over "Lax Immigration Policy," Appoints Public Safety Czar

FLORIDA — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, claiming the president's "lax immigration policy" is allowing too many undocumented immigrants into Florida.

On Tuesday, DeSantis, joined by Attorney General Ashley Moody, announced he is suing the Biden administration for what the Republican governor described as President Joe Biden's "catch-and-release" policy for immigrants.

Additionally, DeSantis issued an executive order prohibiting Florida government agencies from smoothing the way for illegal immigration to settle in the state, and he appointed a public safety czar to enforce the new order.

DeSantis’ order authorized the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol “to detain any aircraft, bus, or other vehicle within the State of Florida reasonably believed to be transporting illegal aliens to Florida from the Southwest Border” — if allowed by federal and state law. The caveat that the law must be followed likely prevents them from seizing federal aircraft, the Associated Press reported.

The end of cooperation as immigrants reach Florida contradicts DeSantis' priority two years ago. Previously the governor made his top legislative priority a law that required state and local officials to fully cooperate with federal immigration agents, the Miami Herald reported.

Larry Keefe, former U.S. attorney for the North District of Florida, has been tapped to fill the new position of public safety czar. DeSantis said Keefe is charged with taking "steps to protect Florida taxpayers from bearing the burden of reckless immigration policies." DeSantis said.

“The Biden Administration’s brazen disregard for federal immigration law is jeopardizing the safety and security of our state and nation, all while costing Florida taxpayers," Moody said. "Biden’s lax border policy is an open invitation to dangerous criminals, human traffickers and drugs traffickers to enter the United States — creating a crisis at the southern border like we have never seen."

U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat from Miami, told the Herald that the DeSantis lawsuit is “another baseless attempt to recast himself in the image of former President Donald Trump.”
“Many of the migrants who have been allowed to stay since the border was cleared include families with children and unaccompanied children whom he despicably referred to as ‘illegal alien children,’ ” Wilson said.

Moody said Biden is not requiring those crossing the border into the United States to go through legal channels and be properly processed, as required under federal statutes.

“As a former U.S. attorney, I saw illegal aliens that would get deported and come back, and then get deported and come back in an endless cycle,” Keefe said. “The states, including Florida, bear the brunt of this cycle. Over the coming weeks and months, our state agencies will be addressing the impacts illegal immigration has had on our state. I want to thank Gov. DeSantis for appointing me to lead these efforts.”

Under DeSantis' Executive Order 21-223, Keefe will also collect information from state officials on the scope and costs of illegal immigration in Florida, statistics that DeSantis said the Biden administration has refused to turn over despite repeated requests including a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on Aug. 26, in which DeSantis also demanded that the state be consulted before resettling illegal aliens in Florida.

The order seeks information on the number of illegal aliens pending criminal prosecution in state courts, the criminal records of undocumented migrants settling in Florida, the amount of state and local funds spent on illegal aliens for health care and social services, and the amount on educating unaccompanied minors released to sponsors in Florida.

Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani criticized DeSantis, saying he’s using the immigration issue to score political points with his conservative base instead of focusing on other issues facing the state, AP reported.

“He is completely bonkers and just wants to distract everyday people from real life issues,” she said. “We have an affordable housing crisis, we have climate change to worry about, we have folks that can’t find a good paying job. There’s so many issues around us and this is what he chooses.”

DeSantis released a graphic showing the rising numbers of illegal aliens being released into the United States.

The Pew Research Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan fact tank that researches and conducts public opinion polling on public policy issues, backs up DeSantis' claims, saying migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border are at a 21-year high.

Using data provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the center said the U.S. Border Patrol reported 199,777 encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border in July, the highest monthly total in more than two decades.

The center also backed up DeSantis' claims that more people crossing the border into the United States are being apprehended rather than expelled (sent back across the border).

"Expulsions have become less common – and apprehensions more common – in the first months of President Joe Biden’s administration," reported the center. "In July, 47 percent of migrant encounters resulted in expulsion, down from 83 percent in January, when Biden took office. During the same period, the share of migrant encounters that resulted in apprehension rose from 17 percent to 53 percent.

Since taking office, President Biden has made no secret of his plan to reverse former President Donald Trump's restrictive immigration policies.

Among his first acts as president, he issued a proclamation on Jan. 20 ending discriminatory bans on entry to the United States and issued an executive order revising immigration enforcement policies.

"Generations of immigrants have come to this country with little more than the clothes on their backs, the hope in their heart, and a desire to claim their own piece of the American Dream," Biden said. "It’s the reason we have constantly been able to renew ourselves, to grow better and stronger as a nation, and to meet new challenges. Immigration is essential to who we are as a nation, our core values, and our aspirations for our future."

In his "Plan for Securing Our Values as a Nation of Immigrants," Biden said Trump's "misguided polices" regarding immigration have put greater stress on the immigration system while failing to invest in smarter border technology that would improve cargo screening.

"His (Trump's) obsession with building a wall does nothing to address security challenges while costing taxpayers billions of dollars," Biden said. "Most contraband comes in through our legal ports of entry. It’s estimated that nearly half of the undocumented people living in the U.S. today have overstayed a visa, not crossed a border illegally."