DeSantis proposes requiring E-Verify, crackdowns on illegal migrants voting

Published Feb. 23, 2023, 9:56 a.m. ET | Updated Feb. 23, 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis announces plan to combat "Biden's Border Crisis," Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 23, 2023. (Video/Gov. Ron DeSantis' office)
Gov. Ron DeSantis announces plan to combat "Biden's Border Crisis," Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 23, 2023. (Video/Gov. Ron DeSantis' office)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a series of proposals to crackdown on illegal immigration.

The proposals include increasing penalties for human smuggling, requiring employers use E-Verify, and clamping down on illegal immigrants voting.

He proposed lawmakers pass a bill asking Floridians who register to vote to swear under penalty of perjury that they are a United States citizen.

“We want all citizens here that want to vote, to vote, but we don’t want anybody here voting illegally,” DeSantis said. “And if you’re not a citizen of this country, you should not be voting in our elections.”

The governor wants all employers in Florida to use E-Verify to determine employment eligibility. Current law allows businesses to either use E-Verify or maintain documents that E-Verify requires, which the governor said has “not been effective enough.”

“If you remove the enticement of employment, then they’re not going to want to come illegally to the state of Florida,” he explained. “So, that’s a huge, huge issue.”

The governor went on to explain that local governments have nonprofit groups create ID cards for people in the state illegally.

“And that’s just a way to try to evade the current state law,” DeSantis said.

The proposed legislation would ban local governments from being able to fund nonprofits to create IDs for illegal immigrants.

The proposal would increase the penalties for human smuggling to a third-degree felony. He said it would be a second-degree felony for aggravating circumstances. He wants it to be a separate offense for each person transported.

“And then when people are being transported, even though they may have not violated this, they’re going to be detained as material witnesses,” DeSantis said.

The governor noted that Florida allows illegal immigrants to become attorneys.

“How could you be violating the law and then be practicing the law?” DeSantis asked. “So we’re going to end that practice to make sure that you’re legal.”

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass believes the governor’s initiatives will help keep Floridians “safer than ever.”

“Human smuggling, drug trafficking, and a host of other criminal activities are steadily spilling across the Southern Border and into our state, as bad actors seek to exploit the hard-earned wealth and hard-won freedoms of our citizens for criminal gain,” Glass said.

The legislation also eliminates out-of-state tuition fee waivers for undocumented immigration students.

The proposal also requires collecting data on the immigration status of patients and the costs to provide care to illegal aliens and regularly report the data to the governor and legislature.

“The border crisis this nation is experiencing is a direct result of the federal government refusing to enforce immigration laws,” said Sen. Blaise Ingoglia. “The problem is so bad that the federal government should declare itself its own disaster area. It is reckless and an abomination, and our Governor will not stand by idly as this open-borders agenda continues to take over our families, friends and our communities. As a matter of fact, he will boldly push Florida as the blueprint by which other states should fight illegal immigration.”

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