Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a series of measures Friday in response to the crisis at the southern border.
"Illegal aliens are being smuggled across the border in record numbers, which the reckless policies of the Biden administration facilitate," the Republican governor said. "Today, Florida has taken additional action to protect our state from the effects of what is a full-fledged border crisis."
The first action is the formation of a strike force to combat human smuggling, human trafficking, and the slew of illegal weapons being transported though Florida.
Local and state law enforcement agencies will come together to form the force, according to a press release shared with the Washington Examiner.
"In the span of just three days, in Northwest Florida, law enforcement interdicted five illegal aliens from Honduras and two from El Salvador who were arrested and charged with human smuggling or solicitation to commit human smuggling," the release reads. "The strike force also recovered almost four grams of fentanyl, which is enough to kill nearly 2,000 Floridians."
The next action involves DeSantis filing a petition with the Florida Supreme Court to impanel a statewide grand jury for the purpose of examining human trafficking.
The body will "identify and investigate persons and international human smuggling networks that move illegal aliens, particularly children, across the southwest border to more desirable states such as Florida," according to the release.
DeSantis's third and final action was the signing of "sweeping" legislation prohibiting aid and assist to "secretly resettling" illegal immigrants into communities across the state.
The legislation "prohibits a governmental entity from executing, amending, or renewing a contact with a common carrier if the carrier is willfully providing any service in furtherance of transporting an unauthorized alien into the State of Florida knowing that he or she is an unauthorized alien, except to facilitate the detention, removal, or departure of the unauthorized person from Florida or the United States."
