TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida lawmakers passed a bill that would allow Gov. Ron DeSantis to relocate migrants not just from Florida — but from any state in the country.
The legislation is meant to cut off a legal challenge to the governor’s migrant relocation program, which began last year when DeSantis used taxpayer dollars to fly a group of South American migrants from Texas to the liberal enclave resort island of Martha’s Vineyard.
The trip drew legal questions because the administration paid for the flight using money intended to remove migrants who were located in Florida, not migrants who were in any other state.
The legislation creates a dedicated program in the governor’s office on migrant relocation and specifies that future flights could move migrants from anywhere in the U.S. The measure increases the likelihood of additional trips as DeSantis continues his criticism of federal border policy along his path to an expected 2024 presidential bid.
The bill would spend $10 million to create the program.
Republicans have repeatedly said the bill would help migrants by taking them to sanctuary cities and states, while Democrats have slammed the program as a political stunt meant to serve the governor’s political ambitions.