DeSantis announces lawsuit against federal government over border crisis

Reporter: Taylor Petras Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
FILE – This May 4 2021 file photo shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, center, speaks during a news conference at West Miami Middle School in Miami. Several states scaled back their reporting of COVID-19 statistics this July 2021, just as cases across the country started to skyrocket, depriving the public of real-time information on outbreaks, cases, hospitalizations and deaths in their communities. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP, File)

Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference alongside Attorney General Ashley Moody at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday to announce a lawsuit against the federal government.

DeSantis also signed an executive order forbidding Florida state agencies from cooperating with the federal government if it attempts to transport undocumented immigrants to Florida.

The governor called what is happening at the southern border with the United States, “a total disaster.” He blasted the Biden administration for its border policy while announcing the lawsuit.

“It is a total disaster, and it is a disaster that has been created by disastrous policy choices by president Joe Biden,” DeSantis said.

“No one, let me repeat that no one is above the law,” Moody said. “We are seeing dramatic effects at our border. It is an unmitigated crisis based on this president’s refusal to follow federal law.”

The governor also signed an executive order prohibiting state agencies from helping undocumented immigrants sent to the state. He said the Biden administration won’t give them a heads up on how many people are arriving or are already present.

“We’re entitled to know, given that we bear the cost of most of this with our services, our criminal justice system, our education system,” DeSantis said. “We’re entitled to know what’s going on here.”

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