- 6 months ago
At a press briefing on Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) touted his efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
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00:00for being here. So we have said when I became governor, we we said we are not
00:08a sanctuary state and we're not going to allow sanctuary cities. So one of the
00:12biggest pieces of legislation I signed my first year was to ban sanctuary
00:17cities in the state of Florida. It should have been done before. It hadn't
00:21been. And so we leaned in and got that done. And I know blazing Golia was a big
00:26help with doing that. Now those that year 19 and 20 was was a little easier
00:32because under Trump 45, if you had somebody that we picked up, particularly
00:39through our justice system, you know, they were happy to take them and and
00:43repatriate them to their home countries. Biden came in and things changed
00:46dramatically. He opened the border and interior enforcement really collapsed
00:52with respect to illegal immigration. So we saw what was happening at the border
00:57and you know, people act like oh, just let let those border communities just
01:01deal with it. It doesn't affect anyone else. That is the furthest thing from
01:04the truth that open southern border affected the entire country. And I
01:09think everybody saw that in pretty short order. So we were the first state to
01:13launch in to help Texas back in 2021 with what was happening at the southern
01:18border. And so our operation Lone Star deployed more than 1000 guardsmen,
01:24national and state, as well as state law enforcement, including Florida Highway
01:29Patrol to Texas to help stop what was happening at the southern border. You
01:35know, it's interesting. You had those communities flooded, but then people going
01:39everywhere and our guys would apprehend when they're coming in. They say, you
01:42know, where are you looking to go? And a lot of them were looking to go to
01:45Florida. Because you remember, I mean, everyone wanted to be in Florida. I
01:48mean, you didn't want to be in in San Francisco. Then I was locked down for
01:52COVID. You had homeless, all this stuff. So people were naturally doing,
01:56including those folks coming across the border. And so we obviously knew I'd be
02:00a huge, it's a huge issue for our state. So we have to do it. And you know, you
02:05had a lot in the media that were like, you're not a border state. You know what? Why
02:08do you care? Well, no, we do care because it's a national problem. And even if it
02:12didn't directly affect Florida, even if none of the illegals wanted to come to
02:16Florida, we as the third largest state in the country, we support the
02:22sovereignty of this country. We support having enforceable borders. That's a good
02:27thing to have as an American. So we were happy to be involved in that. And isn't
02:32it interesting? Yet a lot of the people, they didn't care about, you know, what was
02:37happening at the border? You know, what happened when we sent 50 to Martha's
02:41Vineyard? All of a sudden, it was like panic time to have 50. And they called
02:48out the National Guard and they they redeployed them. They got them off that
02:52island very quickly. And that's what happened. So and then you started seeing
02:56busing to New York City and Chicago in this. And they didn't they didn't like
03:00that very much. So obviously, this was going to have an impact across the
03:03country. And we stepped up and the FHP was a big part of that. We also
03:08launched Operation Vigilant Sentry because we saw that particularly with
03:14instability and like Haiti and some of these places, people want to get on
03:17these boats and they want to show up on the shores of Florida. And under
03:22Biden, once they got to the shore, he didn't do anything really to him. So that
03:27really handicapped us. And so we said, you know what, the Coast Guard's out
03:31there. Honestly, the Coast Guard does work hard at this. There wasn't enough
03:36Coast Guard presence to stop all these boats. So we surged our maritime
03:40resources. And since we've done that, we've had more than 19,000 illegal aliens
03:47that have been interdicted by the state's efforts. That's in addition to
03:52everything that the feds and the Coast Guard and all of them stop. And that
03:57includes more than 470 vessels that just our folks under our operation were able
04:04to stop. And when you see some of these folks, you know, they'll be with
04:07contraband. You got firearms, you got narcotics, you've got all this stuff. Why
04:13would we want, you know, a band of 15 Haitians armed showing up on the shores of
04:20Florida? Obviously, I don't think that that's a good thing. Incidentally, you know, I had a
04:25tussle with the Speaker of the House and some of the legislators earlier this
04:28year on immigration because I said President Trump's coming into office. We
04:32need to be full throttle and support and we need to get this done with the
04:35deportations. They actually passed a bill that I vetoed that would have
04:40terminated Operation Vigilant Century. And so those illegals on those boats would
04:45have been able to pour in to this country. And you know, Blaze was one of the
04:49ones that was standing with you on that. But I vetoed that legislation and the
04:53legislation we eventually got in was able to to supplement what we were already
04:58doing, which I think is really, really significant. But just keep in mind, all
05:01this was done under a state of emergency for immigration, similar to what
05:07President Trump has done federally. And if you terminate that and you take the
05:11power away from the governor to be able to do any immigration enforcement, you
05:15have no maritime interdictions. Obviously, the southern border, that's not an issue
05:19anymore, because that's been taken care of, I think very well. But all the stuff
05:23we're doing interior above and beyond what we would do just in the normal
05:27course of law enforcement requires that authority.
05:32We did do the transport program. Obviously, a lot of people remember
05:35Martha's Vineyard, and that really helped open the eyes of I think a lot of
05:39people around the country that this is a major problem. But you know, there was New
05:42York City, Chicago, California, there was a lot of stuff going on. And those are
05:47sanctuary jurisdictions. And so they say they're sanctuary jurisdictions, but then
05:52they don't like when folks are being funneled there. And so it's interesting how
05:56that works out. We've also done a lot of strong legislation. We have enacted
06:02finally E verify legislation for legal workforce. We also made sure that there
06:09would be no IDs issued to illegal aliens in the state of Florida. Now we don't do
06:14drivers licenses for illegals. We would never do that. But local governments
06:19wanted to issue IDs, not drivers, but IDs, even nonprofits wanted to do it. And we
06:25said, No, we're not going to do that. And we don't recognize IDs issued by
06:30sanctuary states like California. So if you're illegally here, they issue you an
06:34ID, you come here, we won't do it. And that's the thing. If you don't want
06:39illegal immigration, then you can't provide any type of benefits to illegal
06:44immigration. That's one of the reasons we worked hard to get rid of in state
06:48tuition at our colleges for illegals. That was instituted before I became
06:52governor. That's an incentive for people to want to be in the country
06:57illegally ID cards and benefits or incentives. So we've worked really hard
07:02to police that. And I think we've done that better than any other state in the
07:05country. Now, that's all great, all the stuff that we did leading up. But when
07:10the Trump administration was getting ready to take office, we knew we had an
07:14opportunity to be huge partners in the efforts of actually seeing our laws in
07:21force, actually restoring the country sovereignty. And that yes, that involves
07:26the southern border. And unfortunately, they're able to handle that at the
07:30federal level without needing the support of states like Florida. But then what
07:35about the interior of the country and all the things that's happened over these
07:39many years with millions and millions plowing in even people that come in on
07:44like a visa and stay, there's huge problems that come with all this stuff. So
07:49what tools do we have? Well, there's a program, a federal program called 287 G and
07:56Biden basically mothballed it when he was in for four years. But what it does is it
08:01allows ice to delegate to state and local law enforcement the authority to
08:05perform specified immigration functions under the agency's direction and
08:11oversight. And so people will say you have federal, the immigration is federal,
08:16and that's true. But you know, shouldn't states be able to supplement that? And of
08:22course they should be able to. And so this provides a framework to be able to do
08:26that. So ice operations can partner with our state and local agencies to identify
08:32and remove both criminal aliens and run of the mill illegal aliens that are in
08:39our communities. So to date, more than 1800 Florida Highway Patrol troopers have
08:45completed their 287 G training and have received their credentials. We have more
08:50than 100 FHP troopers that have been sworn in as deputy US marshals, which gives them the ability
08:57to execute federal search warrants on the worst of the worst in terms of illegals that are in our
09:03state. We also have active 287 G agreements with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement,
09:09Fish and Wildlife and the Florida State Guard. And we've even expanded into some of our regulatory
09:15places, spaces. Now because of the legislation I signed earlier this year, we required participation
09:21of all local and state agencies. State agencies is easy because I will just tell them, hey, you got
09:27to do it. Let's do it. And they were eager to do it. Mark glass at FDLE, Dave Kerner. I mean,
09:32they were, they were, they were ready, willing and able to do it. Didn't have to twist their arm.
09:37Not that wouldn't have been true with every state, every local municipal or county law enforcement
09:42agency. That's just the fact. They are all have a duty under the law to participate.
09:48And that means all 67 counties have signed agreements through their sheriff's department
09:53with the 287 G program and and many, many municipalities have done the same. You know,
09:59it's interesting with with FHP and kind of all they they've done. They were doing a lot with the
10:05border. They were doing a lot to help mitigate the damage Biden was doing here interior. But you know,
10:11with Biden, you know, you'd have you could have illegal alien getting a car accident.
10:15And if I wouldn't accept, then there was nothing they can do on the immigration front because they
10:21didn't have the authority to act on their own. Now they're able to do that and they can work
10:25seamlessly with the federal government. So it's really, really positive to have that type of
10:30relationship. But because they're doing all this and really in many respects with the tip of the sphere,
10:36I called for a big pay increase for FHP this year in the budget and we had to fight fight for that.
10:42But we're able to deliver the largest pay increase in the agency's history and the budget I signed at
10:48the end of June. So I was happy to be able to do that. I think one and we want to do that to be able
10:52to retain good people. But we also want to recognize that there's great duties that are being exercised
10:59here that are above and beyond what would traditionally be called for in those circumstances.
11:11We when so as we're working with the feds, and Larry keeps working with them as kind of our liaison,
11:19we're like, Okay, you know, what do you need this that and the other thing and everything we were doing
11:22was great. But we were able to apprehend illegal aliens faster than the federal government could
11:30detain process and deport them. And part of that is they just didn't have enough space. Now we had
11:37our some of our local facilities, you'd have sheriffs could put some people for somewhere, but that
11:42really isn't isn't going to be enough. And so we sprung into action to help with that
11:47detention processing and deportation part of this, which is at the tail end of when somebody would
11:54initially be identified and be be apprehended. And so we were able to federal government, you know,
12:00asked us to be a part of this. They are we're doing it. We created the facility alligator Alcatraz.
12:08Folks are contracted to do that on behalf of the state of Florida. But everything we do is going to be
12:13reimbursed by the Department of Homeland Security and the federal government. But we were able to stand
12:18that up in like a week. And you now have a situation where you have thousands of folks that can be
12:25there for processing and ultimately for removal. And there's this massive airstrip. I don't know,
12:31it was built many decades ago, but massive airstrip. They've built, you know, all this stuff. It's all
12:37temporary, but they've built it. So you literally could have people, you drive them 2,000 feet,
12:43they get on a plane, and then they're gone. So thus far, we've had over 600 that have been deported
12:52from alligator Alcatraz by ice. And that cadence is starting to rapidly increase. And that's what
12:59I've told people. It's like, you know, our interest is to facilitate the removal of illegal aliens. It's not
13:07to just, you know, what New York was doing. They were just putting them up in these luxury hotels
13:11at your expense. Like I have no desire to do to do that. Our detention and processing is all leading
13:20into the removal. And so that cadence is important. The more that's there, the more we'll be able to send
13:27or DHS consent. And I've said we're even willing to expand that footprint if we need it to Camp Blanding
13:35and Northeast Florida and maybe even some others. But that's ramping up. I think it's doing good,
13:41but we want to see even more into the future. So the need, as I said, was simply because FHP
13:51is out there and they're able to interact and they're able to apprehend very quickly and very
13:58efficiently. You think about the roadways that are out there. We want safe roadways. We want safe streets.
14:04The reality is, is, you know, some of these people that are coming here illegally,
14:09you know, they are not trained to drive the way we would do to get a license. They're not licensed
14:14drivers in the state of Florida. And you do see a lot of really tragic situations. And, you know,
14:20we have a state rep in in the Florida House of Representatives, Kyanne Michael in Northeast Florida.
14:28You know, her son was killed by an illegal alien driver. And it's just thinking to yourself, you know,
14:34it's like, why? This person shouldn't have even been on the streets. It had no right to be driving
14:39a car here. And yet they're out there. And now all of a sudden she lost her son. So the number of angel
14:45moms that I've met over the years, whose son or daughter was killed by an illegal alien driver. I mean,
14:52it's it's pretty significant. And and it's so unnecessary and so avoidable. So FHP, I guarantee
15:00you with the apprehensions they've already done, I guarantee you they've saved many lives. Because
15:07if they weren't out there doing that, it was just a matter of time before you would see maybe traffic,
15:12maybe otherwise, you absolutely would have seen lives taken had they not gotten these folks off the
15:19street. So so far FHP alone has apprehended just in just since we started doing the 287 G. They've
15:30apprehended almost 3000 illegal aliens that were then later taken for immigration processing by the
15:38Department of Homeland Security. Over 500 of them already had an existing criminal record. They're
15:47actually convicted of things. It's like why are you in the country when you've already been convicted
15:53of something when you never had a right to be here in the first place. Our state troopers have stopped
15:58vehicles with illegal aliens that that were possessing weapons, fentanyl, as well as large sums of cash,
16:05which, you know, having large sums of cash in of itself, you know, crime and good on you if you're
16:11able to do that. But when I see it with fentanyl, and I see it with narcotics, I think, okay, I know
16:15where that money's coming from, right? I mean, it's not like you're just out there working as an accountant,
16:20nine to five. They've uncovered human smuggling operations that are working deep within our state,
16:27just in the past month. FHP has arrested a member of trend de Aragua gang, which is a Venezuelan gang
16:35designated as a foreign terrorist group right here in Orange County, who had an extensive criminal
16:40history and an existing warrant up in North Florida and Wakulla County. FHP arrested an illegal alien who
16:47is member of ms 13 gang in Broward County. They arrested an illegal who's a member of the 18th straight
16:55gang gang in Broward County who had had two prior removals from the United States. I mean,
17:02what are we even doing? Letting people come in multiple times like that. In Osceola County,
17:07they arrested an illegal alien who struck and killed the pedestrian and then fled the scene.
17:13Palm Beach County, they arrested an illegal wanted for murder in Guatemala. And in Hernando County,
17:19they arrested an illegal who is trafficking 30 pounds of marijuana. Those are just some examples
17:26from just the last month of what FHP has been doing. They've also assisted federal partners at
17:32Homeland Security and ice with more than 470 joint operations leading to the arrest of illegal aliens.
17:41In April, many of you remember Florida conducted a statewide operation operation,
17:46tidal wave in conjunction with our federal partners. And that led to the arrest of over 1100 criminal
17:53illegal aliens in one week. That's the largest number in a single state in one week in the entire
18:01history of ice as an organization.
18:09And of those, almost two thirds had existing criminal records. Now to further combat the threat of
18:16illegal immigration, Florida Highway Patrol is establishing a new immigration unit, the
18:21Immigration Enforcement Section within the Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence to
18:27specialize in immigration enforcement. This team of mission dedicated troopers,
18:33troopers were working close contact with local, state and federal law enforcement partners
18:38to identify, locate and apprehend criminal aliens across the state. We're proud of the great work that
18:44FHP is doing. I want to thank director Dave Kerner for leading the charge. There's no other state in
18:51the country that can match our efforts. In fact, there's no other state that is even in the ballpark
18:57of our efforts. And you remember when the president came down to South Florida to tour the alligator facility,
19:07he said and his key people like Stephen Miller said, we need other states to be doing this. You're eligible
19:14to have it reimbursed by the federal government. So it isn't like it's gonna be a cost on your budget.
19:19Ultimately, it's just just the front. And I haven't seen anything else being stood up anywhere around the
19:25country. I haven't seen the type of numbers where our folks are intricately involved. And then of course,
19:31the maritime has gotten better because the Coast Guard has more resources dedicated to policing
19:37this since President Trump took office. But we're still helping there. Our footprint isn't as big as
19:43it was under Biden because quite frankly, the threats aren't as aren't as great as they were under Biden.
19:49But we're still engaged in that and we're still making arrests with that. So this has been I don't
19:56think you've seen any state in the country work more closely with these federal agencies to fulfill
20:05a very key mission, a mandate from the American people after the 2024 election to get this job done.
20:13So we're showing that it can be done. There's a lot more that's gonna happen. I mean, I know that
20:18they're gonna really do more to stand up the agency a lot better than it had been under Biden. I know
20:23they're going to provide more resources for their ability to hold and process and deport folks,
20:29and hopefully without even needing it. And people will ask me like, well, you know, why are you
20:34involved in this? I'm involved in it because we have to be involved in it. I'm involved in it because
20:39if we were not involved in it, it's not going to get done right now. Maybe we'll reach a point
20:43as ice continues to build up where they're going to be able to handle where all we'll have to do is
20:49just let them know. Hey, you know, we got a guy, they take them. And then we're not involved anymore
20:54that we don't have to have any type of of processing or detention that the state's involved
20:59with. I would be I'd be happy with that if that were the case. But that's not where we're at now.
21:03So we can sit on our hands and watch the problems not get solved or we can be part of the solution
21:10and help lead the efforts among the states to get the job done. We would not be able to do that
21:16without the great work of FHP. I'm glad that we were able to deliver a pay increase. Honestly,
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