Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked lawmakers to give him extraordinary power to transport undocumented immigrants outside the United States as part of a series of legislative requests his office submitted last week.
Among the proposals the governor sent to the Florida's legislative staff for the Senate and House were suggestions that the state program used to fly migrants to Martha's Vineyard in 2022 be authorized to "facilitate the deportation of illegal aliens" from the country, and that the state should create "penalties for non-compliance" with immigration enforcement policies, The Miami Herald reports.
The proposals sent to the legislature are more detailed than the ones he publicly released last week in an effort to take action in a Jan. 27 special session to help carry out President-elect Donald Trump's mass-deportation plans.
DeSantis has not yet publicly discussed some of the details in his newest proposals, which were first reported by POLITICO Florida, and his office has not yet responded to requests for comments sent by the Miami Herald sent on Wednesday night.
But some of the legislative proposals, which were provided to the Herald by a spokeswoman for the Florida Senate, include: restructuring the state's Unauthorized Alien Transport Program to allow the Desantis administration to transport immigrants "outside of the United States"; Creating a first-degree misdemeanor for law enforcement officers and a third-degree felony for elected officials who do not participate in federal immigration enforcement actions; and allowing the Florida National Guard and the Florida State Guard— a civilian military force under the governor's control— to help with federal immigration enforcement in coordination with a state-appointed immigration officer.
The governor also announced that he wanted to mandate that businesses verify the identity of each person that transfers money to a foreign country and to report each verification to the state, according to the Herald. Additionally, he said he wants to refuse bail to all undocumented immigrants who are in custody by considering them a flight risk.
The proposals come as DeSantis and Florida Republicans prepare for the new Trump administration, which is reportedly working on more than 100 executive orders starting Day One to deal with border security, deportations and other immigration-related issues.
"State and local officials in Florida must help the Trump administration enforce our nation's immigration laws," DeSantis said. "In order to do that effectively, we are going to need legislation to impose additional duties on local officials and provide funding for those local officials."
It remains unclear when and which legislation proposals will be considered by the Florida government. Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Danny Perez said that while the governor can call a special session, "the Legislature, not the Governor, will decide when and what legislation we consider."
At the same time, Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell told the AP she doesn't see a reason for holding a special session instead of addressing the issues during the regular legislative session, which begins March 4.
"During special sessions, there's restricted ability for the public and stakeholders to have input, and this is a really big issue," Driskell said.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
