I have represented many people who are illegally residing in the United States. The vast majority of these folks are good, hard working, and thankful for their escape from poverty and political oppression. I do not blame a man who seeks to take care of his family.
However, our country has laws that regulate immigration. Without these laws, a massive migration would occur that would have a negative impact on the United States. If this happened, our national security would be jeopardized, individuals and businesses would be further burdened with excessive taxes, and our law enforcement officers would be overwhelmed.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis seems to have heard these concerns from his constituents.
The Policy
Last week, DeSantis followed through on his promise to drop off illegal immigrants in liberal states that have “sanctuary cities” where federal immigration law is not recognized nor implemented. He did this by sending two planes full of illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
The governor’s communications director, Taryn Fenske, said “Yes, Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha’s Vineyard today were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations. States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies.”
The Destinations
In November 2021, DeSantis said dozens of migrant flights landed in Florida at the behest of the Biden administration.
DeSantis proposed Delaware or Martha’s Vineyard as a destination for such migrants, but his office explained at the time that they could also be sent “to other ‘progressive’ states whose governors endorse blatant violations of federal immigration law.”
Martha’s Vineyard is famously known as a playground of wealthy liberals, including Barack Obama, who bought a multimillion-dollar house there in 2019.
“It is not the responsibility of Floridians to subsidize aliens to reside in our state unlawfully; we did not consent to Biden’s open-borders agenda,” the governor’s office said.
Meanwhile, other states have taken action in response to the Biden administration’s actions and policy. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began sending thousands of illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C., in April as the migrant crisis overwhelmed our border states.
In August, buses from Texas started heading to New York City and Chicago. Arizona sent buses to Washington as well.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was put in charge of tackling the border crisis by Joe Biden shortly after they assumed office in 2021, embarrassed the administration after she twice declared the U.S. southern border is “secure” while administration officials estimate an average of 55,000 illegal immigrants successfully make it into the country without being detained every month.
So far, there have been more than 2.0 million migrant encounters this fiscal year alone. Last year, there were 1.7 million encounters. The 50 migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard would be just 0.0025% of that number. While many of those are returned by Border Patrol, a significant number are released into the U.S. to await their asylum hearings. This process can take up to eight years.
Florida governor’s communications director, Taryn Fenske, was clear on the state’s policy regarding illegal immigration and sanctuary areas in the U.S.
“States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies”, he said.
Well, immigration policy has been an issue since the 1800”s. Legal immigrants have had a huge positive impact on America.
Illegal immigration has helped large businesses, Democrat and Republican politicians by creating a wedge issue, and human traffickers.
While the legal immigration process is slow, most Americans have great respect for those who come into our country by legal means.
When we look back at history, it is clear that we are a nation of immigrants that began with General Oglethorpe’s implementation of a prison colony in what is now the state of Georgia.
However, the U.S. is a sovereign country and must be able to gain control over who crosses our borders.