Americans Should Take Note Of Florida’s Push To Stop Illegal Migration

President Joe Biden continues to come under fire for the historic crisis crashing the U.S. southern border while Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed more anti-illegal immigration legislation, increasing penalties and fees for illegal immigrants. The new tools for law enforcement to combat the current crisis, along with the growing surge of Haitians fleeing to the state for entry into the U.S., should be examined closely by conservative states facing the economic and political disasters necessarily attached to accepting such large waves of foreign invaders.

Since former President Donald Trump stepped up and changed the Republican’s mantra of “comprehensive immigration reform” to “Build the wall,” conservatives have finally begun fighting the unsustainable levels of immigration flooding the U.S. for decades.

And during the former president’s current absence from the White House, the states have been left defenseless in the face of Biden’s reversal of so many successful Trump policies.

Florida’s legislation aims to defend its shores from an absent federal government, adding more jail time to sentences for illegals convicted of crimes and even banning local governments from accepting ID cards issued to illegal immigrants by other jurisdictions. The state has also greatly increased the penalties for crimes committed by migrants who have been previously deported. 

Penalties for individuals who operate a vehicle without a license have gone from a 60-day sentence to a one-year minimum sentence, and penalties on convictions after previous deportation can earn up to a 30-year minimum. 

Florida state law already prohibits issuing IDs and driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, but this legislation went a step further by making it illegal to accept IDs or licenses that have already been issued. 

DeSantis made a statement referencing the legislation and the border crisis, stating, “The federal government has failed in its responsibility to secure our southern border, leaving states to fend for themselves. In Florida, we do not tolerate illegal immigration, let alone lawlessness committed by illegal aliens who shouldn’t be here in the first place.” 

These measures regarding state IDs will be effective July 1, 2024, and the law increasing penalties on crimes after reentry will take effect October 1, 2024.

DeSantis also took time to express his gratitude to the Florida Legislature for passing Senate Memorial Bill 1020, which urges the U.S. Secretary of State to formally designate the cartels operating at the southern border as foreign terrorist organizations. 

The legislation came shortly after Florida’s recent deployment of state authorities to its southern border as a large group of illegal Haitian immigrants was on its way to the Sunshine State. 

As states like Texas and Florida push back against the Biden administration’s wreckless and dangerous open-border policies, other conservative states should take note of how to survive the ongoing migrant crisis.