Gov. Ron DeSantis’ planned bill to tackle illegal immigration in Florida could be the most sweeping state-led plan ever, a Florida state senator told Fox News.
The overhaul will increase penalties for people smuggling and document falsification and will require employers in the state to confirm the legal status of their employees. It also includes proposals on health care spending, voting and out-of-state ID.
“I believe this will be the largest, most comprehensive, groundbreaking state-led anti-illegal immigration bill ever passed in the United States,” Florida State Senator Blaise Ingoglia, who is working with DeSantis on the bill, told me. to Fox. News. “It should be the blueprint for other states so that all of us as states can push back the federal government, the Biden administration, Secretary Mayorkas and their open border policies.”
FLORIDA LAWMAKER EXPLAINS NEW PROPOSALS THAT COULD TACKLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
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DeSantis, while announcing the immigration plan, said Florida “will not turn a blind eye to the dangers of Biden’s border crisis” and that his administration will “do everything in our power to protect the people of Florida from what is happening at the border happens”. and the border crisis.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced several new initiatives on Thursday, February 23, 2023 to address illegal immigration in Florida. (WAWS)
The proposal also aims to track how much health care is spending on illegal immigrants.
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“We since a state of Florida really needs to get its hands on the dollar amount, the size of the amount of money Floridians pay for illegal immigrants going through the emergency room,” Ingoglia, a Republican, told Fox News. “If this bill passes, will hospitals, any hospital receiving state dollars from Medicaid, be required to ask at intake whether they are legally or illegally in the country,”
The U.S. Coast Guard shows Cuban migrants on a sinking ship spotted on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, about 40 miles off Key Largo, Florida. (Associated Press)
Health care for illegal immigrants in Florida cost more than $310 million in the past fiscal year, according to state data.
Ingoglia also said DeSantis’ plan would invalidate all out-of-state IDs for illegal immigrants. Law enforcement would proceed as if the individual had no ID at all.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a law that allows migrants to receive state IDs regardless of their immigration status. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Since 2014, more than 1.1 million driver’s licenses have been issued to illegal immigrants in California. state data. In addition, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law in September allowing illegal immigrants to obtain state IDs.
“So it’s things like this and more that this state of Florida wants to do to really force the federal government to finally solve this problem,” Ingoglia told Fox News.
Click here to watch the full interview with Ingoglia.
Jon Michael Raasch is an associate producer/writer at Fox News Digital Originals.
