Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis signed three new bills Friday, taking further action to combat illegal immigration in the state. The bills are the republican leader’s latest efforts to maintain law and order by taking protective measures against illegal immigrants who engage in criminal activity.
The governor indicated that Florida would not tolerate illegal immigration or lawlessness perpetuated by illegal immigrants.
“The federal government has failed in its responsibility to secure our southern border, leaving states to fend for themselves,” DeSantis said. “In Florida, we do not tolerate illegal immigration, let alone lawlessness committed by illegal aliens who shouldn’t be here in the first place. The bills I signed today further enhance Florida’s capabilities to uphold the law.”
Florida’s Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez noted that she and DeSantis refused to standby quietly and watch as the Biden Administration’s border crisis spiraled out of control.
“Under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis,” Nuñez said, “Florida has provided a blueprint for other states to protect their citizens against illegal immigration.” She added the DeSantis administration was intent on protecting Floridians.
The three new laws are as follows:
SB 1036 – enhances penalties on individuals who commit crimes after an initial deportation and returning to the country illegally and also increases penalties crimes committed in drug cartel furtherance.
HB 1451 – prevents counties and municipalities from accepting ID cards issued to illegal aliens by other jurisdictions. Florida prohibits jurisdictions from issuing ID’s or drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants.
HB 1589 – increases penalties on individuals who operate a vehicle without a license. The maximum sentence goes from 60 days in jail to one year in jail for two or more offences and a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 days in jail for three or more offences.
ABC News reported that immigration support groups have decried the new legislation, some claiming it will endanger public safety as illegal immigrants are barred from access drivers’ licenses in the state will continue to drive, but without drivers testing or drivers’ insurance. Others complained that illegals convicted for low level crimes, like burglary or car theft, would face stiffer sentences of 15 years behind bars rather than the current five years, while high level felonies like armed robbery carried life sentences instead of the normal 30 years of incarceration.
All of this plays out against the backdrop of a Lebanese national being apprehended near El Paso, Texas in early March who admitted he was an active member of Hezbollah, was planning to make a bomb and was headed to New York, according to internal Immigration and Custom Enforcement documents obtained exclusively by the New York Post.
Robyn Spradlin is a freelance journalist working as a contributor for Christian News Journal covering news and politics on the national and state levels. She has worked as a copywriter for Victory News on the Victory Channel since 2022. Robyn has a BA in Communication Studies and an MA in Journalism from Regent University and is a member of the Evangelical Press Association. She is an author, evangelistic minister and a musician. She lives in South Florida, where she enjoys the outdoors when she’s not writing.