Feb. 10 (UPI) — The Florida legislature passed a bill on Friday that will allow Gov. Ron DeSantis to relocate migrants from any state in the country, not just from Florida.
The bill creates the Unauthorized Alien Transport Program, which allows the state to move migrants from anywhere in the U.S. with taxpayer dollars.
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Jeremy Redfern, a DeSantis spokesperson, said the governor will review the bill “in its final form and decide on the merits of the bill as presented,” NBC News reported.
Last year, DeSantis flew two planes with 49 migrants aboard from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, even though the migrants who were transported did not know where they were going.
A Democratic state senator sued DeSantis for allegedly violating state law because the migrants were not in Florida. The new legislation now allows the state to transport migrants from anywhere in the country.
Last month, DeSantis declared a state of emergency, saying that the migrants have overwhelmed local authorities and the state will deploy air assets, including airplanes and helicopters from the Florida National Guard, to bolster existing Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission marine patrol units.
Under the state of emergency, some DeSantis administration officials will have the authority to suspend the effect of any state law, rule or order that may block them from responding to the situation.
In declaring the emergency, DeSantis — considered a frontrunner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2024 — blamed the Biden administration for the situation.
“As the negative impacts of Biden’s lawless immigration policies continue unabated, the burden of the Biden administration’s failure falls on local law enforcement who lack the resources to deal with the crisis,” he asserted. “When Biden continues to ignore his legal responsibilities, we will step into support our communities.”