Florida lawmakers on Friday approved an expansion of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial program to relocate migrants, giving the Republican leader authority to transport individuals from anywhere in the country.
The measure, now headed to DeSantis’ desk after passing the GOP-led House on a 77-34 vote, would allow his administration to pick up where the governor left off last year when he sent two planes of migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The attention-grabbing act thrust DeSantis into the middle of the national debate on immigration, earning the potential 2024 hopeful praise from conservatives and widespread condemnation from migrant advocacy groups and the White House.
The program had stalled amid multiple legal challenges and questions as to whether the DeSantis administration had violated state law by rounding up migrants in Texas. The budget law that created the $12 million program specified that the money was set aside to relocate “unauthorized aliens from this state.”
At DeSantis’ urging, lawmakers meeting in a special session this week voted to remove the restriction on where the state could pick up migrants. The program would also come under the purview of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Because DeSantis has declared a state of emergency related to immigration, this would allow the administration to award millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to companies to move migrants across the country with little public disclosure.
The legislation comes as Florida has experienced a spike of migrants from Cuba and Haiti attempting to reach the state’s coast by boat. However, the bill’s sponsor, GOP state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, said giving the DeSantis administration freedom to conduct missions outside of Florida would help stem the flow of migrants into the state.
“The state of Florida is…
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