Governor outlines Florida immigration policies in Arizona roundtable discussion
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd joined Gov. Ron DeSantis for a roundtable discussion about the border and illegal immigration Wednesday in Arizona.
"We’re going to partner, and we’re going to formalize this in the coming days and weeks. Want to partner with all like-minded sheriffs and governors around the country to create a coalition of people that actually do have the will to fight back against this problem," Gov. DeSantis said.
Pictured: Governor Ron DeSantis during a roundtable discussion on immigration in Arizona.
The governor has maintained that President Joe Biden created a problem by not enforcing federal laws on the border – something Moody reinforced at Wednesday’s discussion.
"We have a general in the White House, who has abandoned us on the battlefield, walked to the side and has started waving the flag of surrender, like it is a starting sign at a NASCAR race," Moody said.
The group blamed the border for crime, human trafficking cases and drug cartels.
Pictured: Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody during a roundtable discussion in Arizona, where she joined Gov. DeSantis.
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Sheriff Judd talked about last month’s fatal crash in Mulberry, where an illegal immigrant from Guatemala was arrested.
"Had he been in his country of origin, had he not been smuggled across the Mexican border, we wouldn’t have had this young lady in this crash and three people dead," the Polk County sheriff said.
Pictured: Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a roundtable discussion in Arizona.
Gov. DeSantis outlined several of Florida’s policies that he argued are working to combat the problem, including requiring employers with more than 25 employees to use the E-Verify system to ensure a "legal workforce."
"We have put forth resources to assist with the transportation of illegal migrants to sanctuary jurisdictions," Gov. DeSantis added.
As part of his anti-illegal immigration law, $12 million will be dedicated to the transportation of migrants to sanctuary cities. That law goes into effect July 1.
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The state of Florida confirmed Tuesday it coordinated recent flights of South American migrants from Texas to California.
California Governor Gavin Newsom accused DeSantis of "kidnapping" the migrants, calling him a "small, pathetic man" on Twitter.
"These sanctuary jurisdictions are part of the reason we have this problem, because they have endorsed…these types of open border policies. They have bragged that they are sanctuary jurisdictions," Gov. DeSantis said at Wednesday’s roundtable. "When they have to deal with some of the fruits of that, they all of a sudden become very, very upset about that."
The governor also released an update on Operation Lone Star Wednesday, saying Florida teams have helped Texas officials with more than 190 arrests and that they will remain in Texas to support the situation at the U.S. southern border.