Florida Launches Immigration Crackdown, Appoints Migrant Flights Official to Oversee Enforcement

At an emergency Cabinet meeting on Monday in Niceville, Florida’s GOP leaders chose Larry Keefe to be the head of the new State Board of Immigration Enforcement.

Keefe, who used to be the top federal prosecutor in north Florida and the state’s public safety chief, played a big role in the publicity stunt of setting up flights for migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to blue states in 2022.

This time it might be Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, instead of Martha’s Vineyard like it was the last time. Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the meeting, “I don’t know how it’s going to work out, but I do know that we’re going to be there.”

Three extra sessions and a few weeks of fighting between the governor and the Republican-led assembly, the two parts of the government came up with a compromise that they called the “toughest” immigration law in the country.

This meant making a board of immigration enforcement that would work closely with the federal government on President Trump’s plan to change immigration laws and remove a lot of people.

For her part, Keefe, who has been sued and investigated because of the migrant boats, said that being executive director is the “perfect thing for me.”

There is a mix of federal, state, and neighborhood work that makes people work together quickly to break down barriers. “As I look each of you in the eye, I promise that I will make you proud,” Keefe said.

The bill (SB 2C) that created the new board also made it more illegal for people to enter the country, required them to join the 287(g) program (which works with federal immigration enforcement), and got rid of in-state tuition for students who are not legal residents.

On the other hand, it was a blow to the scheme that DeSantis and the Legislature set up to transport illegal aliens for the migrant flights. From now on, the state will only be able to transport migrants if told to do so by the central government.

Reports say that DeSantis had first asked for $350 million for his program. SB 2C cost around $300 million all together.

Even so, the board made jokes about Martha’s Vineyard and talked about how they were involved in the plan to fly refugees, mostly from Venezuela, from San Antonio, Texas to Massachusetts.

CEO Jimmy Patronis, who is running for Congress, made fun of himself when he said, “You all love to brag about the Martha’s Vineyard flights, but you never say thank you to the guy who wrote the checks.”

“I was the president who put it in the budget so that we could afford to fly,” said Wilton Simpson, the Agriculture Commissioner. Simpson was also the president of the Florida Senate and approved the original $12 million for the transportation scheme.

The governor told the Cabinet meeting that coming into the country without permission “is also a crime.”

“You can’t just say that you’re free to stay here illegally until you do something major.” “I want you to leave before you do the crime,” DeSantis said.

Last week, state Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, told immigrants not to worry if they weren’t “a gang banger, cartel member, or a bad person.” This view has changed.

“No, you shouldn’t be worried if you’re an uninvited guest and not breaking the law,” Gruters told reporters. Gruters sponsored the bill and is the treasurer of the Republican National Committee.