Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis' migrant relocation from Texas to Martha's Vineyard might have been in violation of the Constitution, a new lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit filed by a trio of immigration advocacy groups (Florida Immigrant Coalition, Inc., Americans for Immigrant Justice, Inc., and Hope CommUnity Center, Inc.) claims discrimination and the Constitution grants only the federal government to regulate immigration policy.
Section 185 of Florida's 2022 General Appropriations Act set aside the $12 million for state's Department of Transportation for the relocation of undocumented migrants, and DeSantis vowed to use "every penny" of the appropriate for the designated purpose.
The appropriation violates the Constitution's authority over "federal government’s immigration system by creating a separate, parallel immigration system," the lawsuit claims.
"This case is about that section of the Florida appropriations act, which violates the Supremacy Clause by usurping the federal government's sole role in regulating and enforcing immigration law, muddying an already complex area of law, leading to chaos and confusion; and the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, through its state-sponsored harassment of immigrants based on race, color, and national origin," the lawsuit reads.
DeSantis' communications director denounced the lawsuit as "politically motivated" and "unsound."
"The relocation program was funded by interest from federal COVID dollars and lawfully executed under an appropriation of the Florida state legislature (that, incidentally, had bipartisan support)," Communications Director Taryn Fenske said in a statement to Axios.
"This program does not violate federal law. We will continue to defend the state's actions against these politically motivated, unsound lawsuits."
DeSantis' migrant relocations have angered Democrats, who have called on the Biden administration's Treasury Department to investigate the Florida's governor's moving illegal migrants to Democrat-run, some of which are self-proclaimed sanctuary cities.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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