DeSantis directs businesses, state law enforcement to openly defy Biden

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Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order targeting illegal immigrants this week that has critics up in arms.

DeSantis’ “Biden Border Crisis Executive Order” directs businesses and state law enforcement personnel to openly defy the Biden administration. It’s unclear what the consequences for not complying with federal laws will mean for the state.

“This executive order makes it clear that Florida resources will not be used to prop up the failed open border agenda enacted by this administration,” DeSantis said in a statement on Sept. 28.

An increase in illegal immigrants and undocumented workers would hurt the state’s economy, DeSantis fears. He also expressed concerns about a lack of testing for COVID-19 amongst illegal immigrants.

The executive order allows Florida law enforcement officials to target any vehicle believed to be transporting illegal migrants from the southern border around the state, according to ABC News. DeSantis also prohibited state agencies from assisting illegal migrants unless they were legally obligated to and asked them to compile information on illegal immigrants who come to Florida.

The Biden administration is more focused on humanitarian concerns than security violations at the southern border, Yahoo News reported. While some migrants have legitimate claims to asylum in the U.S., cartels and other crime organizations are taking advantage of the administration’s relaxed policies to traffic narcotics across the southern border.

Over 624,500 pounds of narcotics were confiscated at the southern border in the fiscal year 2021, according to Customs and Border Protection data. Border officials also encountered more than 1.7 million migrants attempting to illegally enter the U.S. through the southern border in the same time frame.

A lawsuit filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody cited an increase in fentanyl seizures and claimed that the Biden administration’s policies will ultimately hurt Floridians.

“While some arriving migrants have legitimate asylum claims, many do not. Some are gang members and drug traffickers exploiting the crisis at the border, as evidenced by the skyrocketing amount of Fentanyl seized at the border this year,” the suit says, ABC News reported.

DeSantis expressed support of former President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policies and slammed the Biden administration’s relaxed stance at a news conference in southern Florida.

Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s response to increased illegal immigration at the southern border, President Joe Biden promised to end several of Trump’s policies and has yet to deliver.

Missy Halsey

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