Florida Attorney General Asks Feds Not to Investigate DeSantis’ Flight of Migrants to California
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody called California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request to investigate Florida “a political stunt, not a legal request.”
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody responded to California Democrats in a letter to the Justice Department defending Gov. Ron DeSantis and his controversial migrant flights.
The three-page letter, addressed to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, urges the Justice Department not to investigate Florida, as requested in a July 6 letter from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom’s letter was sent after about 20 people were flown by private jet from El Paso, Texas to Sacramento, California, as part of a Florida-funded program.
Moody called the inquiry request “a political stunt, not a legal request”.
She stressed that Florida’s migrant resettlement program is “voluntary” and that “immigrants who were transported by Florida gave oral and written consent to travel to California.” Newsom, on the other hand, argued that immigrants were lured onto flights under the false pretense that they would get “access to work, housing, or other services.”
“California’s letter asking the US Department of Justice to investigate Florida is a ridiculous political stunt. Our voluntary immigrant resettlement program is legal, and California’s request did not reveal any violations of federal law,” Moody said in a statement. California, claiming that more of them could destroy his state – what an irony.”
In his letter, Moody asks why Newsom is only demanding an investigation into the DeSantis program and not other Democratic-led jurisdictions that have facilitated the transportation of migrants.
In his original request, Newsom noted that it is not uncommon for local jurisdictions to facilitate travel for migrants arriving at the U.S. border, but “this arrangement is different” due to how migrants have been scammed.
Moody also suggested that Newsom was targeting Florida to undermine DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
“Two career Democratic politicians are targeting the state of Florida because Florida’s governor is running for president and is among the leaders to be put forward against the current president,” Moody wrote of Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bont.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to 10 Tampa Bay’s request for comment.
DeSantis has made immigration the focus of his presidential campaign, vowing to gain control of the border and flex his muscles to sign Donald Trump, his main rival for the 2024 nomination. Earlier this year, the governor also signed a bill that would provide $12 million to move migrants from anywhere in the US, not just Florida, to anywhere else in the country.
“I think the border should be closed. I don’t think we should have any of that,” DeSantis said last month during a visit to the border. What.”
