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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis remains adamant that he will transport illegal immigrants placed in Florida elsewhere, despite the White House recently dismissing a similar proposal from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as a “publicity stunt.”
A spokesperson for DeSantis’ office clarified to Fox News Digital that the transport of illegal immigrants out of Florida was included in the governor’s recent budget recommendations. The budget proposed by the State Legislature includes $12 million for the Florida Department of Transportation to remove illegal immigrants from Florida and relocating them.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses a joint session of a legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
“The legislature delivered on this priority, along with many of the governor’s other priorities to protect Floridians from the harmful impacts of the Biden border crisis,” a spokesperson for DeSantis said.
DeSantis has proposed Delaware or Martha’s Vineyard as a destination for such migrants, but his office explained that they could also be sent “to other ‘progressive’ states whose governors endorse blatant violations of federal immigration law.”
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“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,” his office said, adding that Florida will have access to the funds appropriated for the provision when he signs the new budget sometime before July 1.
Immigrant men from many countries are taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border on December 7, 2021, in Yuma, Arizona. (John Moore/Getty Images)
In remarks he made last week when he signed the No Patient Left Alone Act into law, DeSantis said that he will send illegal immigrants who are “dumped” into the Sunshine State to sanctuary states like President Biden‘s home state of Delaware.
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DeSantis also discussed the Biden administration’s termination of the Title 42 health policy, which gave the administration the ability to bar people from entering the country during a health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent monitors single-adult male detainees at Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, on July 12, 2019. (REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas//File Photo)
In November, DeSantis said dozens of migrant flights landed in Florida at the behest of the Biden administration, and he threatened at that time to send them to Delaware on buses.
Fox News’ Kyle Morris contributed to this report.