DeSantis pushes 'strongest' illegal immigration crackdown ahead of 2024 election

The Florida legislature is moving swiftly to pass legislation endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and billed as the nation's strongest crackdown on illegal immigration any state has ever undertaken. DeSantis's aim is to push through more immigration restrictions this spring than ever seen before in the "modern history of Florida." He'll do so by building the legal version of a physical wall — blocking avenues of inclusion for illegal immigrants and making their livelihood much more difficult in the Sunshine State. 'ZOMBIE' DRUG OF HORSE TRANQUILIZER-LACED FENTANYL RAVAGES U.S., ALARMING PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS Debuting his policy plan on Feb. 23, the congressman-turned-governor said Florida will lead the way in countering the border crisis under President Joe Biden and deterring illegal immigrants from making Florida their destination. Florida GOP state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia is championing DeSantis's vision in the legislature. On Tuesday, Ingoglia debuted a bill packed with immigration restrictions, from tougher criminal penalties for human smuggling and for using fake IDs for work authorization to tracking the immigration status of patients who receive hospital care. “SB 1718 is the most comprehensive and strongest, state-led anti-illegal immigrant piece of legislation ever put forth,” Ingoglia said in a statement announcing the legislation. “It is unfortunate that state governments are having to step in to protect their residents from the incompetence and unlawful open border policies of the Biden administration." The DeSantis strategy, as outlined in the legislation, is “building a legal barrier" rather than a physical barrier, according to James Massa, CEO of NumbersUSA, a right-leaning immigration think tank in Washington. The bill would greatly enhance penalties for smuggling people anywhere in Florida, including severe penalties for smugglers under the age of 18. Out-of-state driver's licenses, including those issued to 1 million illegal immigrants in California, would be invalid in the eyes of Florida police. Florida local governments would be barred from facilitating local IDs to those here unlawfully. Registered voters would also have to check a box affirming they are U.S. citizens. DeSantis's plan would repeal a 2014 law that allowed certain illegal immigrants to attend college at in-state tuition rates, though that measure would be included in a provision attached to a separate bill on education, Ingoglia said. Illegal immigrants would also lose the ability to obtain a license to practice law. Businesses and employees that hire anyone without legal status or fake documents would be susceptible to a sliding scale of financial penalties and jail time, with the termination of a business's license as the final strike if found to hire illegal immigrants repeatedly. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement would have investigatory subpoena power to conduct audits of businesses at random, Ingoglia said. Hospitals that collect Medicaid dollars would have to include a question on patient forms inquiring if the patient is an illegal immigrant. The forms would also note that no patient will be refused care or reported to federal immigration authorities if they identify as such. The data would be collected and shared with the state government. The immigration strategy has already drawn the ire of the Left, with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus calling Ingoglia's legislation "inhumane and outrageous." Ingoglia, however, was optimistic that this comprehensive package will pass the GOP-controlled House and Senate before the session concludes in early May, just in time for DeSantis to launch an expected 2024 presidential run. "When our governor comes out and weighs in on a piece of legislation such as this, you’re going to bet that it's going to get across the finish line and it will become law," Ingoglia said in a phone interview Friday. Massa agreed and said DeSantis has previously demonstrated his ability to drive legislation through the legislature. Ron DeSantis Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at an event Friday, March 10, 2023, in Davenport, Iowa. Ron Johnson/AP This legislative feat, along with other education and culture war priorities expected to pass, would beef up DeSantis's record for GOP primary voters beyond flying immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, a 2022 political move panned by the Biden administration as a stunt. It would also showcase his abilities as a governor against those of Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and former President Donald Trump, who won the White House in 2016 by campaigning on building a wall with Mexico. Third-termer Abbott has made stopping illegal immigration a priority and vowed before a large gathering of conservative policymakers in early March to outperform all other states on the issue. “In Texas, we’ll continue to do more than any state has ever done in the history of the United States of America to secure our border,” Abbott said during a speech before hundreds of attendees at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual summit in Austin. Abbott has garnered attention for deploying thousands of troops to his state’s border with Mexico as part of a hands-on approach to immigration matters, whereas DeSantis is focused on an inside-out approach. DeSantis's strategy was dealing with the "squishy insides" versus Abbott's "hard exterior" focus, Massa said. Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project and Republican consultant on Latino voting trends, agreed DeSantis and Abbott had taken bold steps to turn up the rhetoric on immigration. "Both are pursuing an approach that animates their existing political base and isn’t doing anything to build support for their proposals or for a substantive immigration reform proposal," Madrid wrote in a message. "Like the Democrats, Republicans benefit from a broken system and rather than trying to fix it. They’re going to pursue these performative proposals that don’t do anything to fix the system." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Ingoglia insisted that DeSantis’s strategy was so all-encompassing that it could become the textbook example of how other red states move on immigration. "Unless you take away the inducements to come over illegally, you’ll never stop having people come over illegally," Ingoglia said. “If states like Florida and states like Texas pass similar legislation taking away the magnets, we will then force the federal government into fixing the legal immigration system and securing our border. But without those outside forces — in this case, being the states doing it — the federal government will never act.” For more information, visit us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/index.html.