Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis planned to issue an executive order Friday to block the issuance or renewal of state licenses to facilities housing migrant children relocated from the southern border, Breitbart reported.
DeSantis' action, through the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), is aimed at stopping the influx of unaccompanied children into the state as a result of President Joe Biden's policy of relocating migrants, reported Breitbart, citing information from the governor's team.
DeSantis, considered a potential contender for a spot on the 2024 Republican national ticket, previously slammed Biden for secretly relocating migrants from the southern border to other parts of the U.S.
"If they’re going to come here, we will provide buses … I will send them to Delaware," DeSantis said early last month. "I mean, if [Biden] is not going to support the border being secured, then he should be able to have everyone there. So, we will do whatever we can in that regard."
DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw told Breitbart News that the DCF's mission was "to protect health, safety, and well-being of Floridians, especially children."
"DCF licenses facilities that house children whose families are unable to care for them," Pushaw told Breitbart on Thursday night. "As a state agency, DCF serves the people of Florida. Diverting resources away from kids in need in Florida, to illegal aliens being smuggled here by the Biden administration for clandestine resettlement, does not serve the people of our state."
Pushaw then explained what the executive order would do.
"Under the new emergency rule, the federal government’s resettlement of illegal aliens (unaccompanied minors) from outside Florida does not constitute 'evidence of need' as required for issuance or renewal of a state license for a child-care facility," she told Breitbart.
"Therefore, no licenses shall be issued or renewed with respect to any child-care agency that provides services to illegal aliens transported to Florida from outside our state."
The latest executive order comes after one relocated migrant, who claimed to be 17 despite actually being a 24-year-old man, allegedly murdered a Florida man, Breitbart reported.
In late September, DeSantis announced that the state of Florida was suing the Biden administration over its "illegal" catch-and-release policies at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The lawsuit said the administration's policies force Florida to "incur millions of dollars in expenses" as a result of migrants being relocated to the state.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.