The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, defended this Wednesday the transport of planeloads of immigrants across the United States during a trip to the Mexican border as he seeks to make restrictive immigration policies a mainstay of his presidential bid.
The stop of the Republican candidate in Arizona took place a day after the state of Florida acknowledged that it had supervised two chartered flights of immigrants from Texas to Sacramento (California) last week, which provoked harsh criticism of California Governor Gavin Newsomand other officials.
“This policy has been debated right now for a long time,” DeSantis said. “I think it’s something that’s been very, very effective.”
DeSantis, one of the main contenders In the fight for the Republican primaries, led by former President Donald Trump, he has made border security a focus of his campaign, accusing the government of President Joe Biden of permissive immigration policies.
“It’s been a huge dereliction by the president,” DeSantis said in a meeting with law enforcement officers in Sierra Vista, Arizona, near the US-Mexico border.
The victor of the Republican nomination race will likely face Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election.
The governor said the flights have deterred migrants from traveling to Florida and blamed liberal states like California for policies that he said encouraged illegal migration.
Last year, DeSantis organized the transportation of dozens of migrants from Texas to the Massachusetts resort island of Martha’s Vineyard, a move that drew applause from Republican voters during DeSantis’ three-state campaign tour last week.
Newsom, a Democrat, threatened DeSantis with kidnapping charges over last week’s flights, calling him a “pathetic little man” on Twitter. California’s attorney general has said he is looking into possible civil or criminal liability for the flights.
During Wednesday’s event, DeSantis spoke frequently about the need to stop the flow of illegal drugs, including fentanyl, across the border, saying communities across the country were being affected.
“Yes, it’s a border crisis, but it’s really an American crisis,” he said.
The border, DeSantis noted, “just needs to be closed.” He also announced that Florida would partner with “like-minded” sheriffs and governors across the country to provide resources to help secure the border.
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