'We're Apprehending Faster Than DHS Can Hold & Process': DeSantis Explains Alligator Alcatraz Origin

Forbes Breaking News

At a press briefing, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) discussed his efforts to combat illegal immigration.

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00:00that are percolating now and our sheriffs have done more than any other sheriffs in the state

00:06and any other state and maybe even all 49 states combined when it comes to enforcing our laws

00:14against illegal immigration and we called on both our state and local agencies to be on the team on

00:21this and i understand it's not necessarily the the core mission ideally we would have a federal

00:28government that just takes care of this right and we wouldn't even have to maybe you get someone in

00:33a jail then you just turn them over you don't have to worry about it that would be ideal in terms of

00:37how i think this is supposed to work but we're coming off a period particularly the last four

00:41years where we had massive massive infusion across the southern border we've had persistent problems

00:48for many many decades and it was the fact that if you're going to reassert the sovereignty of the

00:53country if you're going to restore the rule of law and if you're going to make sure that illegal

00:59immigration is in fact illegal you weren't going to be able to do that with just dhs resources alone

01:06particularly at the start of the trump administration after four years of the agency really wilting

01:11particularly interior enforcement so we did legislation everyone's got to be on board you got to do best

01:19efforts to help assist with that we now have these 287g agreements which are task force model where

01:25we're going in and we're and i think you know grady judd was uh when we did our our um update the other

01:33day you know he pointed out we're we're apprehending faster than dhs can can hold in process and so the

01:41the results in florida and the efforts in florida have been so far above and beyond any other state in the

01:48country and it really were pointed to as the model for what dhs wants to see all around the united

01:55states of america and so that was part of the reason why under under my leadership with the division of

02:01emergency management we set up this processing site at the dade collier airport in the everglades to be

02:08able to have a place where illegals could go get them processed and then literally there's a runway and

02:16they can be flown out immediately and it's interesting because you know you hear this different

02:20stuff you know the people that are going to the alligator alcatraz are illegally in the country

02:27they've all already been given a final order of removal so people talk about due process this and

02:34that and obviously you know there's some process i mean if you do have a right to be here then then

02:39that should matter uh there should be some way to to ensure that you are here illegally before they

02:45send you for sure but these guys have already gone through that so they have that so if you have an

02:51order to be removed what is the possible objection to the federal government enforcing that removal order

02:59now i know under biden all that was just a suggestion right you come across the border they give you a

03:04notice to appear three years into the future not much of a deterrent when you do that and if you

03:09did have a final order of removal they were not sending ice or dhs you know after folks but that's

03:15what you're dealing with here and so if you don't believe that someone under a final and we have

03:20probably 50 to 80 000 just in the state of florida that already are under the final orders of removal

03:27they've gone through and that's what's happened if you don't think those folks uh should be sent back

03:33then you basically just want an open border if you're going to say that having been ordered to

03:39be removed through the process we have that that shouldn't amount to anything i would ask well then

03:45why would a u.s citizen have to follow an order to pay more taxes by the irs why would a u.s citizen have

03:52to follow orders that they don't like that are issued under under federal law it's almost like people want

03:58to give special privileges to people that are here illegally and that have already had this final

04:05order of removal so those flights out of that airport have begun we're monitoring the cadence of

04:12those we do have the ability to increase capacity and i'm willing to do that not just there but also

04:18at our site in camp blanding but what i want is you know obviously i hope dhs just you know right sizes

04:26and can take it but until then what i want to be you know it's not our response we just hold people

04:32indefinitely our job is to help the processing and deportation so these should be short term

04:39uh you go through whatever you need to go through to get the i's dotted and the t's crossed

04:44and then they're on a plane and then they're out so they've deported over a hundred from there

04:50and they've had three or four hundred more that have flown out of there and are either have been

04:55deported or waiting deporting from other places in the united states you know it's just like i mean

05:00you guys know it's like a hub and spoke right you know you have airlines that will feed into one place

05:05well we may have a hundred illegals that are ready to be sent but they may be from six or seven different

05:12countries so they have places in like louisiana where they can fly into and then they basically

05:17segregate people based on the country that the next flights are going to and they do so there's a

05:22process that dhs use it that's not something we're involved with i mean that's their responsibility and

05:26they're doing it but i really believe if we can get a good cadence going you know not only is that going

05:32to be beneficial for for florida but i also think it's going to serve as a huge deterrent for people to

05:38want to come illegally in the first place or people that may be here illegally violating the law

05:43will be able to maybe make a different decision and we do offer both the federal government and

05:49even us at alligator alcatraz we offer an ability to simply fly home you got to be escorted and got

05:56to ensure that you're doing it but you can do that and you can short circuit any process that you have

06:01to go through if you want to do it so this is something that's going to be able to increase numbers

06:07we're ready to flex to expand to to uh to blanding if we need to um i'm not going to do it unless the

06:14cadence is there because i want to make sure that we're getting it done but uh but florida's been the

06:19leader in this and i know the white house has called on other states to mimic what florida's doing

06:25i don't know some states may not want to some states may may may want to but you know it's not

06:31necessarily easy to do uh sometimes people think things we do in florida oh yeah you know you can rebuild

06:37the bridge in three days yeah that's easy you can do this you can do that no and honestly it takes

06:40a lot of ingenuity it takes a lot of manpower we've got a lot of great people that are working

06:45on this you wouldn't have the strong task force presence without the sheriffs and a lot of our

06:50police chiefs so we really appreciate it i can tell you the people the state appreciate uh the

06:56attention to this matter because i think it's like we've been dealing with this for for decades

07:01are we going to solve the problem are we not going to solve the problem and if we can't solve it now

07:06and when are we ever going to solve it and the state of florida has been leading the way on that

07:12i also uh appreciate

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