Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis tore into the Biden administration’s immigration policies, including releasing criminals who came into the country illegally.
DeSantis “demanded that the Biden administration rescind its recent executive action allowing criminal aliens to go free,” insisting “these dangerous and reckless policies jeopardize the health, security and wellbeing of Florida communities.”
Turning to policy, DeSantis urged the federal government to send criminal aliens to federal facilities run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after their sentences in state prisons are served. DeSantis also said that ICE should deport the criminals if they came to the U.S. illegally.
On Thursday, DeSantis weighed in on what he hopes the Biden administration does.
“Florida will not sit by and watch idly as the federal government sets criminal aliens free and abdicates its legal obligation to enforce immigration law,” said DeSantis. “That’s why I’m calling on President Biden and ICE to take immediate action to detain and remove these dangerous criminal aliens. Too many lives have been lost because immigration officials failed to do their jobs and too many parents have lost children at the hands of criminal aliens who were irresponsibly set free.”
“Over the next 30 days, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) estimates that 50 confirmed or suspected criminal aliens will complete their state prison terms. Over the next 6 months, FDC estimates that number will rise to approximately 200 individuals,” the governor’s office noted.
Also on Thursday, DeSantis wrote FDC Sec. Mark Inch calling on him to “identify all Florida inmates with detainer agreements and pursue all legal means available to transfer them to ICE custody upon completion of their Florida prison terms” and update the governor’s office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on what ICE does with criminals who came to the U.S. illegally.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
