Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may have been the runner-up to Donald Trump in last year’s GOP primaries, but he’s tops among all other governors when it comes to his efforts to remove people in his state who are in the country illegally. And now he’s got a huge plan to deport as many as 10,000 illegal aliens to El Salvador, but there’s just one problem: He’s waiting for approval from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
DeSantis appeared on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News program Wednesday to discuss details of what he and officials in the Sunshine State have put together to effect the largest state-level deportation plan thus far. DeSantis revealed that Florida’s Operation Tidal Wave has already resulted in over 800 arrests of illegal aliens, with more expected as the operation progresses.
“I can set up, at a moment’s notice—within 72 hours—10,000 beds for illegals so they can be processed and deported,” DeSantis told Ingraham. “We can run flights to El Salvador, wherever they need to go. We’re doing more than any other state—but we could do a lot more. We’re just waiting on DHS approval.” Of the 800 removed thus far, DeSantis made clear: It’s not even scratching the surface. “And the numbers, I think, are going to end up being much higher than 800. We’re going to have an update on that tomorrow. Those are the types of numbers you need to really be able to put a dent in what Biden did,” he said.
“I mean, Biden let in millions and millions, and there were already millions and millions of illegal aliens. You’ve got to get those numbers up. So, we’re proud of doing that. We’re the only state that’s doing it at that level. However, we’re ready to do more. We want DHS to approve some of our plans. We have the best emergency response and problem-solving units in the country,” DeSantis continued.
Florida, unlike blue sanctuary states, outlawed sanctuary cities and aligned its state and local law enforcement with federal immigration authorities—at least under the Trump administration. Under Biden, however, DeSantis says ICE stopped responding. He claims state troopers pulling over an undocumented immigrant for drunk driving were left waiting, with federal agents “ghosting” them.
“When Biden was president, if our highway patrol pulled over an illegal for driving drunk, they would call ICE. ICE wouldn’t come get them, and then we weren’t allowed to do anything beyond that in terms of immigration enforcement. Now we’re deputies under President Trump’s administration. Our guys can just take them and get them into processing for deportation,” DeSantis said.
This would be a huge win for the Trump administration’s mass deporation effort, and certainly something that DeSantis appears very willing and able to help pull off. We just need Noem to pick up the phone and give DeSantis the ‘OK.’