Debates about you know who’s uh who’s the best sheriff in Florida and I would say by extension that means the best sheriff in America right um and and someone told me like you it’s not normal that people are so proud of their sheriffs uh that they’re always debating
That and that’s that’s what we see here in Florida in fact there’s people in other states that that debate who the best sheriff in Florida is but Grady has really set the standard and I’m proud to call him a friend we’re also here with lieutenant governor Janette Nunes our
Attorney general Ashley Moody uh representative cayen Michael from Northeast Florida and then Nikki Jones who’s an angel wife we also have representative Benny jocks I saw where’s Benny at um thank you for what you’re doing um we also have representative plankin and representative Bell uh so appreciate you all and all your great
Support um so we’re here today one to build off a record of success with respect to combating Illegal immigration and if you think about it you go back six or seven years in the State of Florida we were not leading against illegal immigration at all in fact we
Were one of the weaker states with respect to Illegal immigration uh since we’ve come in uh we’ve done things like ban Sanctuary cities throughout the state of Florida those were legal in this state prior uh to to me taking office uh We’ve also worked to enact harsh penalties for people that are
Bringing fenol into our community 99% of the time it’s coming across the border uh we make sure in Florida not to do things like Sanctuary jurisdictions do such as issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens that is not allowed in the State of Florida uh we also make
Sure that you’re eligible to work to be here with using things like ever verify uh that’s a magnet that brings in a lot of illegal immigration if you allow an illegal Workforce so the legislature passed last year and I signed uh e verify legislation we also understood
That yes Florida does not allow driver’s license but you had some local jurisdictions that were trying to issue quote picture IDs or Community IDs to people here illegally NOS non-government organizations were trying to do that so we passed legislation that I signed that said no you’re not allowed to issue any
Type of ID uh to illegal aliens uh including our local governments and our non-govermental organizations and so the package that we did last year with the help of cayenne and blae engolia and many other people in the House and Senate even the New York Times admitted was the strongest immigration legisl
In the entire country so we’re proud of that we’re proud that we have really stepped up to uh you know Empower people like Grady Jud to keep uh his community safe here in P County you know if you look at statistics I think PK county has the biggest numerical increase in
Population of any County uh in Florida certainly one of them uh this you I mean like I grew up you know west of here but like anyone that grew up in Central Florida a pulk was viewed as as very rural even 30 years ago now it’s just
Booming but part of the reason that’s the case is because people know if you move to Florida you’re going to be treated well but if you move to pulk uh they’re serious about Law and Order and people want to be safe and so that’s really something that’s been
Great so we’re proud of that but we don’t like to just sit and rest on our Laurels so I’m here today to be able to sign uh three great pieces of legislation make some comments on another Senate Memorial that was passed and then give an update on what we’re
Doing to uh prevent uh illegal vessels from coming and Landing to Florida from places like Haiti first uh hb1 1589 1589 what you see is yes we don’t give driver’s license to illegal aliens which you shouldn’t we don’t recognize driver’s license from other states that have been issued to illegal aliens so
That’s smart uh but you still have people people that that come and drive uh without a license one of the biggest deterrence we can do for illegal immigration is to make sure people that are doing that are facing serious consequences and so that’s what that bill does it increases the maximum
Sentence for people who are driving illegally uh without a license and even provides uh mandatory sentences for repeat offenders uh this is going to be a deterrent for illegal immigration into the state of Florida you come here you’re not getting a license we’re not recognizing your California license that
You may have gotten in a sanctuary State you’re going to come here and then if you’re driving and you’re endangering people and cayenne will talk about that and other people and this is not academic I mean this is something that has shattered the lives of families uh with these folks doing what they’re
Doing so this is important so I’m happy to be able to sign that the other thing the other second bill is Senate Bill uh 1036 enhances penalties for crime committed by an individual who returns to the country illegally after deportation what you find in some of these really significant incidents where
People are getting raped or murdered is it’s not only an illegal alien but it’s somebody that had already been deported from this country and then comes back uh to commit crimes again so in the State of Florida uh if you have been deported and you come to this state uh and enter
Our state State and you’re here illegally and you commit crimes we are throwing the book at you and you are not you are going to regret coming to the State of Florida so I’m happy to sign that into law and then the other one is House Bill 1451 so I mentioned we don’t
Allow local governments or non-government organizations to issue any type of identification to people that are in our country illegally uh but we also want to make sure that they can’t get a group in California to just issue them and then our local government ments are honoring that so what this
Legislation does is it says uh no jurisdiction state or local can recognize those types of Rogue identifications that are issued uh to illegal aliens and so all in all those are three very positive pieces of legislation I’m going to sign those in the law in a second after we hear from
Some of our speakers I also just want to applaud the legislature for Senate Memorial 1020 uh so these memorials are calling on Congress to do certain things are calling on the federal government so they have called on the federal government to designate the Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist
Organizations and I think that that would go a long way it’s something that I’ve supported for a long time and they are foreign terrorist organizations because they are importing product into this country that is killing Our People by the tens of thousands each and every
Year uh finally uh give an update on I recently made an announcement augmenting our resources in Southern Florida with respect to warding off a potential influx of vessels carrying illegal immigrants from places like Haiti uh this is not a new operation for us uh we’ve been uh assisting the Coast Guard
Obviously the Coast Guard is the primary uh uh vehicle to protect the shorelines of the United States we have supplemented that uh throughout the years January of 2023 I did an executive order declaring it to be a state of emergency and we surged vessels uh to be
Able to assist the Coast Guard and so since January of 2023 uh until this week March of 2024 uh our efforts have led to the interdiction of 670 vessels carrying over 13,500 illegal aliens and so those are people that were stopped from being able to make it to Florida uh those aliens
Get turned over to the coast and then by law they have to repatriate them uh to their home country so we have a a lot more ability uh to stop on the sea uh if the Coast Guard decides to dump in our in our state it makes it much more
Difficult for us because our tools aren’t as good so this has been a very successful uh operation and so what we decided to do given the situation that’s happening uh in Haiti some brutal reports that are happening uh we want to make sure that we’re protecting Floridians and so we have authorized
Additional uh officers with the relevant agencies Florida Department of Law Enforcement Florida Fish and Wildlife uh We’ve also uh augmented the National Guard another 48 Guardsmen uh up to 133 soldiers from the Florida state guard and 30 additional officers from Florida Highway Patrol uh four additional helicopters through the National Guard
So this is a significant augmentation and I think the message is is the last thing you should want to do is get on some boat and think you’re going to come through from any of these islands to get to the State of Florida the most likely
Scenario is you will be stopped and you will be returned to your country of origin so it’s a hazardous Journey it’s not worth doing and we have the resources uh that are going to continue to keep the people of Florida safe just recently within the last couple of weeks
And this will be uh made public later today uh our Florida Fish and Wildlife officers interdicted a vessel that had 25 illegal immigrants potential illegal immigrants from Haiti uh in their boat in their vessel they had Firearms they had drugs they had night vision gear uh and were were boating very recklessly
Which would potentially endanger other folks so that uh vessel was was interdicted uh near the Sebastian Inlet uh and those illegal aliens uh were turned over to the coast guard for for deportation so uh our folks have been doing this before we augmented this and they’re going to continue to do it
And we’ve got an incredible amount of resources that are now on display uh to be able to prevent now uh what’s different today than maybe in the past well part of it is we have more resources that the state has been willing to put up and this is not really
Our responsibility this is the federal government’s responsibility Coast Guard uh does by and large a good job but they’re under man they’re under resource so we’re filling those gaps uh I think one difference now is and we see this with our folks that we have at the
Border you have people coming across the southern border from all over the world Haitians can get to the United States Easier by flying to Mexico and walking across the border and so I I would anticipate if flights resume that will likely be where a lot of those folks uh
Who are trying to flee if they want to come to the United States they’re probably going to go to Mexico and then come in through the Border knowing that Biden will just let everybody in also think it’s important to point out we focus on the border we’re obviously
Doing things to interdict these these illegal vessels which I think is really important uh but Biden is also flouting the law by creating an illegal parole program where he flies in people from foreign countries against the law and puts them into our community so for example you just had an instance where
Um one of the people Biden flew in from Haiti uh is now charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old with disabilities in Massachusetts and you think to yourself how is that protecting our people you’re putting your own our own people at risk through violating the law a policy that’s not authorized under
The law it’s a it’s a violation of parole how that’s used and he’s doing that and it’s causing a lot of problems so yes the order has been a huge issue there’s a lot of different ways in which this Administration is flouting the law so in Florida we’re going to continue uh
To do everything we can to protect folks and to make sure that that this state continues to be a great State uh to live in uh we can look it’s important to get the policy right and uh we’ve got our policy so much better today than it was
Six or seven years ago in the State of Florida with respect to Illegal immigration but uh you also need to have people that are going be implement ing that policy on the ground and you have that here in P County under Sheriff Grady Jud you have it across Florida
With so many great uh Sheriff’s departments police departments and then of course our state agencies all these people that have been out there uh fortifying our Coastline fish and wildlife uh our Our National Guard our state guard uh Florida Department of Law Enforcement Florida Highway Patrol this
Is these are folks that have been doing a lot these are the same people that respond to hurricane idalia and the year before hurricane Ian a lot of the same agencies are down at the southern border helping Texas and of course they have a
Lot of work they do on a daily basis and so we really appreciate uh what people are doing who are wearing the uniform to help to to keep our community safe so I think these bills will go a long way to to helping make their job easier and
Make them even more effective and I look forward to signing them into law momentarily but before I do that we’re going to hear from some of our speakers so first first we’re going to hear from our lieutenant governor Janette Nunes well good morning and it’s great
To be here in P County and I want to thank Governor DeSantis for signing these bills into law in just a few minutes but more importantly for his leadership on this issue of illegal immigration in particular he’s been a steadfast champion and Floridians are better off because of him and of course
I won’t wait yes and of course I Won’t Wait into the debate of who is our best sheriff in the State of Florida I will let the public decide that but I do want to thank Sheriff Grady Jud for all the work he and his deputies do each and every day
Particularly on the issue of combating human trafficking um I know you’ve done so much on that issue and it’s important to the governor and myself and so we thank you and what you know is that the governor has been incredibly supportive of our men and women in law enforcement
And one of the areas that I want to thank him as well publicly is creating a criminal interdiction unit and tasking them with Operation Safe highways I had the opportunity to ride along with them and see the work that they’re doing when they uh are traversing our state
Interstates our highways or roadways to keep people safe in particular on this issue of illegal aliens that are um perhaps using our roadways to conduct illegal and illicit activities and so I think we all agree that what is happening in this country is just incomprehensible I don’t know how at
What point it became acceptable to uh basically snub the rule of law and and be derelict in your duties to protect Americans in this case here in in the State of Florida and so what I’ll tell you is that Governor DeSantis does not stand by he does not uh cross his arms
And put his hands up in the air he takes action and by doing that he’s protecting Floridians he’s protecting our country and so he leads not only by word but by deed and the legislation he’s signing today is just another example of how he’s continuing to focus on this issue
And as he mentioned he’s done so much already and one of the areas that I want to applaud him is impaneling a Statewide grand jury that’s been investigating criminal networks and making sure that we’re addressing this issue um from the perspective of a criminal gr uh grand
Jury and the work that they’re doing uh what I’ll say is we’ve received six presentments thus far and these interim reports shed more and more light on the utter failures of the Biden Administration to protect the border and to keep people safe and what we’ve learned really is sobering and it is the
Cause of much outrage especially for those of us that care about Law and Order and in the words of the grand jury themselves Floridians are almost dangerously naive and unaware of the magnitude and the malevolence of the illegal IM the illegal immigration industry and they aply point out um as
The governor talked about cartels how cartels are exploiting our border they’re using people and children as Commodities they’re bringing into this country dangerous criminals dangerous weapons and dangerous drugs so much so they’ve seized enough fenel to kill upwards of a billion people they also uh have NOS that are receiving taxpayer
Dollars that are facilitating and assisting with illegal immigration um turning a blind eye to the dangerous track and and to all the dangers that come into this country uh they’ve also have the federal government bureaucracy is complicit and they are rushing to release children to unbedded um and
Unrelated sponsors and since Biden came into office we’ve seen over 10 million people cross our border more population than 40 States in this country so all of these statistics are alarming they’re shocking they’re sobering and it really is shameful to see that illegal immigration the industrial complex um
Because it is a an industrial complex it is alive and well and it’s a booming business in Miami Dade County what we’ve seen is the immigration courts are facing the largest backlog of any Court in this country with 10% of the overall immigration cases further proof that Florida is indeed disproportionately
Affected by illegal immigration and what’s worse is that the overwhelming majority of those cases that are being um uh addressed by the court more than 90% of them lose their Asylum claim um so again the Biden Administration is single-handedly responsible for this crisis and we need to put an end to it
So that’s why I’m so proud to stand alongside a governor that stops at nothing to protect Floridians he’s taken action um so much so that that what you’ve seen is Florida is leading the way Florida is a trailblazer on so many issues but this issue in particular and
The support that we’ve offered um those border states but obviously with the focus on Floridians um so I want to thank the governor for prioritizing Law and Order every step of the way and for his leadership and keeping Floridian safe thank you all very much attorney
General well thank you so much uh for being here with us today to celebrate this milestone in Florida certainly this is significant achievement by our legislature thank you for everyone here today who is Shining a light on the challenges we face in this country as you heard from the lieutenant governor
Who’s been a great lieutenant governor thank you so much and for highlighting the work of our state white prosecutors and the Florida grand jury who upon the direction and insistance of Governor DeSantis launched an investigation as to what was happening with transnational criminal organizations and how it was affecting Florida those children that
Were being smuggled across the border what we were seeing in terms of illegal immigration and the disastrous qu consequences of this President and what we found is that you heard the numbers 10 million people 7 million of which we know came across the border because they were said welcome processed right in and
Then Millions more that we never had contact with smashing historical records and what we know is that criminals have come into the country as a result of that breakdown in border security which has been intentional and it has been since day one since President Biden has been in office this Governor
Recognized that this was going to be a real problem for the security and safety of our communities we immediately started litigating against this Administration especially in the first month when our sheriffs told us that this administration had backtracked on all formal policies and said we’re not going to support those here illegally
Committing serious crimes committing felonies I know everybody used to do that but not under the Biden Administration that left our sheriffs and our police Chiefs and our state officers on the front lines combating people here committing crimes that should never have been here the breakdown of the Border throwing open
The gates has allowed those criminals to infiltrate our country do not take my word for it as attorney general take the grand jury’s word for it take director Ray’s testimony this week in which he said we know there is no doubt criminals have come into our country are coming
Into our country criminals related to transnational criminal organizations in fact even those organizations that have ties to Isis that was this week this week we also heard from a sheriff in South Florida who said we had a girl raped by three people here illegally one came over at the beginning
Of this month right across our border and that is because the wide open border now you heard the governor say it’s not just the wide open border that’s putting our community members at s at risk it’s also the programs that Biden has created never been done before but now if you’re
In another country he will bring you straight here they’ve brought hundreds of thousands of people directly into our country and paroled them into the US and as Governor Dan santis just said we’re already learning about those who are committing crimes there is no doubt our country is
Left safe not a day goes by that you don’t see someone that has been harmed by someone here illegally that should not be here was not vetted when they came across or they just escaped all detection because this is a historical surge in fact there are even Mass release quotas by this
Administration how would our Personnel ever be able to keep up with that and these programs that have been created which are totally unlawful we have fought every step of the way we have been in court litigating to push back on these illegal programs with the support of governor
STIs he’s been fighting ever since not just about not deporting those here illegally committing crimes but to stop these unlawful programs we can’t even deal with the ones coming across the border why are we bringing more unvetted into the US it is untenable this Governor has done more
Than any other governor in this country to lead efforts like the bills that we all signed today I would like to thank Bernie jock Cayenne Michaels Michael Melanie well Rachel plin the legislative leadership for these bills has just been remarkable they fought for these they were on the floor for hours F fighting
For these bills and particularly the one that’s going to enhance the penalties from those that reenter after being deported that are committing crimes against our citizens they will also enhance penalties for those committing crimes here that are tied to transnational organizations our prosecutors worked with the Statewide grand jury and that
Was a direct recommendation from the Statewide grand jury to our legislative leaders to say please strengthen our laws to make it harder for those here are coming with a Criminal Intent to do harm for Floridians this will make an enormous difference and what I want everyone here
To know is that state leaders shouldn’t have to be passing laws or fighting a court in court against our president to keep our community safe this is remarkable this has never happened we have a president who does not care what is happening or the affect on Americans or Floridians in terms of
Their family and Community safety and it’s not just that he doesn’t care he is actively fighting states that are trying to do their work for them he has battled Texas to take down the barriers they have put up he has battled Florida when we’ve asked them don’t release criminals
Back into our communities he has battled Florida when we said please stop the mass leases so that we can make sure that our country is safe today he is battling Us in court we just battled him this week and got a negative adverse decision and we’re going to have to appeal our president
Who fights us as these news comes across the wire and so not as attorney general not as someone who has worked with this great Governor or or sheriffs across the state that has seen the devastation to families and communities as a result of these po policy decision decisions as a
As a mother as a wife of a law enforcement officer I plead directly to our president and I don’t mean to make light of this but put down whatever you are doing this is not a partisan issue these are people that are coming together in communities that have lost
Loved ones that are feeling the dangerous effects directly a result of your decisions as to the security of this country pay attention reverse course secure this border listen to the director of the FBI listen to the families that have lost loved ones listen to the Floridians who want safe
Communities and have to rely on a state government to defend borders when that is the responsibility of the president of the United States put down the ice cream cone pay attention and let’s save lives thank you Governor d I got Grady always has some visual aid
So I’m just getting a little bit of a sneak peev viw of being able to see what he’s got cooking so thank you Governor you know the governor would be disappointed in me if I didn’t have these cards and you never want your Governor disappointed in you it is truly my honor
For you to be here today governor and when you look at these men and women who stand with us they are on the front lines they’re the ones keeping the people of pp County and there’s ones just like them across the state and Nation trying their dead level
Best to keep people safe but we have to follow the law and we wouldn’t have the laws to do what we do without great Governors such as you and you are the man who’s made such a positive difference and you sent the message loud and clear we’re going to keep P County
Safe we’re going to keep Florida safe we want the world to be safe and especially the United States but listen I’m going to bring this down you’ve heard the governor and our attorney general who I think the absolute world of who go ahead and leave that down there that’s that’s
Right that thing drive me crazy and beside that I got my star up here now [Applause] okay so so it’s important I’m going to get this right down to the lowest common denominator you heard the governor eloquently stay say what he’s doing to protect Florida and he’s doing all that
He can to protect us but look for those of you in Congress and the executive branch this is a secure border this is an unsecure border everybody knows the difference except for the executives and the Congress who are absolutely totally toned deaf now for those of you who are slow Learners this
Is a secure border this is another picture of an insecure unsecure border both folks they’re coming here not just to find a better way of life like many of our forefathers did but they’re coming here to kill our people while they make enormous profits and one example is fentel look at this
377,000 people have died in this country since 2018 from fentel overdose deaths alone and where did they come from the fentel coming from Mexico we worked a large operation here we found that the fitel had gone to Compton was in a house in Compton it came directly from Mexico
To Compton we bought two kilos of filo fentel undercover we flew out there law enforcement there wouldn’t help us enter the house they don’t knock on doors the criminals are winning in California the criminals are winning in New York Governor D Santa says the criminals are
Not going to win in Florida and we’re going to make sure we carry out those directions last week you saw this card we arrested 228 people in a human trafficking operation and We rescued folks then there was this 21 people that were here illegally that we arrested out
Of the 228 listen to me 9% of all of the arrests in this one operation by these law enforcement agencies in one County 9% were here illegally and guess what we also had victims victims from other countries that’s right we had victims that came here you know how these folks got here
The feds flew them for free so we had victims that were victims of human trafficking that were here from Venezuela the federal government flew them to New York gave them some type of certificate we asked them what happens well this guy comes with us to make sure we show up and do what
We’re supposed to and then he takes us to the next and the next and we go well how do you get there they said up they told us this well we fly for free we fly well they fly for free but you and I are paying for
It it’s very frightening to me folks and then here’s what people some of the mainstream media some of the politicians some of the elites are telling us every day and they’re saying this often enough hoping we’ll believe it what they’re saying is they tell us there is an AB
Border crisis have y’all heard that there is an AB border crisis I say BS so I’ve got a BS flag so I I throw the BS flag on that then they tell us the border is secure yes it’s not secure then they tell us oh the illegal immigrants that are here aren’t
Committing crime at any greater rate than American citizens that commit crime well listen if they weren’t here they couldn’t commit any crime right they’re committing hundreds of thousands of crimes and that’s just the ones we’re arresting them for so I throw the BS flag on that
Listen folks the bottom line to all this is we have a governor we have a wonderful legislature that’s given us all the tools we can to protect the people of the State of Florida but the people of the United States deserve the same protection and they deserve the
Same support So Governor you have to deal with a whole lot of BS so I’ve got you your very own personally autographed oh man BS flag okay so now I think this would go for a lot on eBay Grady signature on it so as I wrap up folks we’re so
Fortunate to live in Florida where we have a leader that shows leadership every day we have a legislature that gets it we have an attorney general that’s the very best and she works with our office on a lot of long-term investigations in fact General we’re in the process of
Seeking out some people today that some of your team has worked with us on so God bless the United States of America and listen we’ve got to send a message not just across this state but across this nation the people have a right to be safe
So our next speaker you I talked about where we were on all these issues and then what we’ve been able to do over the last five plus years and uh the next speaker is is now a representative who’s helped uh do some big things in the last
Year year and a half uh but was actually with us right way back in 2019 as a private citizen uh supporting our policies to do things like ban Sanctuary cities because this is an issue illegal immigration that that touched her family and in the most profound way and so I’m
Going to invite up representative Michael from Florida 16th house district to tell you about it well I’ll tell you it’s hard to follow Sheriff Jud I just want to acknowledge our lieutenant governor our attorney general Sheriff Jud Bernie jock I’ll tell you we fought a good fight I pulled you aside because I’m
Like um I think that they are just crazy help me here and representative plin and representative Bell and especially to you Governor because you you’re you know I was driving here and I was thinking back in 2019 I had no idea I would be running for office and here you were
Reaching out and you wanted to hear from our husband and our our daughters here and the and the little boy over here IED up that’s our only grandchild so we give him a lot of Grace and you wanted to hear about our Brandon and for those of you all that
That don’t know my story our 21y old son Brandon Randolph Michael and we’re from Jacksonville Florida was uh on his lunch break and he was just going typical 21 year old going to cat his paycheck on his lunch break and a twice deported that’s why this legislation is so
Important these bills are so important why they’re so dear to me a twice deported illegal alien that had been in Jacksonville at least seven years that we know of hit our child he could not read the signs people want to give them driver’s licenses I don’t know if they’ve thought about they probably
Cannot read our signs who could not read the sign that he was not supposed to make a uturn at that particular location in Jon ran into our our child caused his car to flip and he killed him and then he got out of the car and watched him take his last
Breath and because he got out of the car we were forced as a family that’s already traumatized because I just told him I’ll see you when you get back you need to have oatmeal what that’s what mama do and now someone’s telling me he’s gone every parents nightmare you never
Want to hear anything like that never expected that he was totally healthy he was engaged to be married and he was looking forward to his future he loved the Dallas Cowboys didn’t care for the Jaguars too much but and now we are forced to go to court we’re victimized again because now the
State had to prove that that illegal alien was in the car and he came through the southern border same one that we’re still having problems with today and after all of the all of the battles and weeks of having to sit there and look at the person that took my child’s
Life that should have never been in this country he was only sent to two years deported for the third time and he’s probably back in our community so when 2020 happened and I knew that Bon was going to do exactly what he said he was going to do as a
Mama that Mama Bear rose up at me I’m going to run for office because no nobody’s going to beat me arguing why our borders need to be and have to be closed and nobody has been able to beat me and I’m just getting it started I’ll tell you
That I not going to stay long but I want to thank you because you know while New York is just now discovering well maybe this whole Sanctuary City idea wasn’t too good after all you were already ahead of them and I remember as a private citizen I was sitting uh in the
Committee room and I can hear all of the other people saying there is no such thing as sanctuary cities the governor was in you were assistant and we fought hard and they passed it and we’re in a much better place because you were decisive you were quick you you recognized what was going
On you didn’t waste time you’ve taken a lot of flight and I tell you I take it personally I get up there in that you know I’m in committee and I’m sitting in that chamber and I’m hearing this stuff and I’m like o I just want to kiss somebody because they’re talking about
My governor who’s a awesome awesome man not just a man of God a a family man not just a governor but you’re also to us you’re protective you care about Floridians I mean it makes a difference I speak from the heart I don’t have anything scripted I speak from the heart
And what I say and when we were battling over something of these bills and these especially the identification bills you know and I’m hearing people say well you know they the law enforcemen likes them and I’m like is that true how why would they want people who
Are not here illegally to have uh ID why are they feeling as though they have the same rights and privileges as American citizens or people who did it right to come into this country who waited in line and they’re proud to be American citizens they should not have the same
Rights and so I’m proud today to stand here and say that I’m going to witness this important legislation being signed and I thank God for you I thank God for your family I thank God for all the sacrifices all of you all we’re we’re very blessed to have you all
Florida is the best state to live in I’ll tell you what I we don’t even like living leaving the state do we we like we you leav in Florida wherever we go go wherever we go on vacation and and just as I wrap up a short story my husband
And I were in Southern Florida just uh a few months ago and we were driving back to Jasonville we got hit from behind we exchanged information there was no damage to the car that’s what we do right we get back to Jasonville I show it to our Sheriff’s Office they look
Immediately at the license plates of this person he’s like that’s not a real license didn’t they ran the information that person does doesn’t exist so this is real it is happening you’ve heard it so many before me so many people before me you’ve heard this but my entire purpose here today
And when I go back to Tallahassee is to make sure that no other mother not another father no other family has to endure what we’ve had to do and I know that is happening I know that we’re trying to slow it down we’re trying to do everything we can but I
Tell you what without the best Governor that there is we wouldn’t be able to do any of this and and I’m very grateful I’m honored and thank you so [Applause] much okay now we’re also going to hear from somebody that’s been uh touched uh in a very profound way by this issue uh
We have Nikki Jones good morning I’m speaking on behalf of my husband Shane Jones he lost his life to an illegal alien drinking and driving back in 2019 um the illegal alien that killed my husband had multiple highrisk highrisk traffic violations in between Hillsboro County and P County um including DUIs um
And traffic crashes involving property damage ice was never ever contacted on any of those instances he was even granted to attend DUI school in the state of Florida with his first DUI conviction back in 2013 and he was able to find Comfort uh to live in Hillsboro County without any
Harsh conse quences of his highrisk traffic violations my husband was a 21-year veteran that just retired a year prior when he was killed that left me to raise our two daughters alone at the time of his death they were six months old and two years old I am in support of these IM
Immigration bills being placed because if they were in place and upheld prior to my husband being killed and immigration law was followed through I believe he would be alive today and my children would still have their father but instead we’re sitting here today and my children are forced to live and get
Raised in a broken home I only want to speak I not only want to speak on behalf of my family and children but on behalf of all families in the State of Florida and the United States that have fell victim to illegal alien crimes not only are the families
In the country being destroyed by high-risk traffic violations on a daily basis but also in drug sex and child trafficking crimes my husband did not serve his lifetime for this country and serve war time on behalf of our country to just be killed on his own soil by by a person
That was illegally here that had multiple opportunities to be removed and wasn’t Shane would have wanted our families to feel safe and not have our families and children destroyed at the hands of illegal alien crimes in many cases could have been 100% avoidable if laws bills and policies were in place and
Upheld I want to thank Governor Ronda santz representative Michael representative jocks Florida Attorney General Moody and Sheriff gr Jud to allow the voices of victims of illegal alien crimes to be heard and recognized and supported Ed we are the voices that are often silenced and I thank you for not only
The support but taking action on behalf of the families and childrens of these senseless avoidable [Applause] crimes so we’re gonna uh make this official momentarily you know part of it also I mean we’ve you’ve heard a lot of I think I think really powerful uh stories about how the criminal activity
Has devastated families and you know when you have a situation where someone like Cayenne is losing a son or when you have uh Nikki losing a husband I mean those are bells that can’t be undone unrung and uh and those are permanent scars and and and that’s just um uh the
Reality that these families are now having to live with of course there’s other criminal activity that’s done that may be short of that but that is still devastating of course we talked about the drugs coming in and how people are dying and they’re really being poisoned by fenol because you’ll go out and
People will think they’re taking some pill which maybe they shouldn’t be taking but it’s lace with fent andol and that could be enough so that’s been devastating but it’s also the case just to have a free and orderly Society the sheer number of people that have poured
In even if it was all legal you can’t take in 10 million people like this it overwhelms schools it overwhelms Healthcare it overwhelms all the resources that are supposed to be dedicated to helping American citizens and what Biden’s Administration does is he’s really put people here illegally at the front of
The line you know they can fly around this country without having identification you would never be allowed to do that with TSA and all this other stuff they’ll put them up in hotels and pay for the hotels uh in ways that they wouldn’t do for American
Citizens and so I think what these bills will do yes someone comes and and commits a crime after being deported they’re going to have the book thrown at them that’s good uh we’re ensuring that these local governments can’t recognize any of these Rogue out ofate licenses uh
Making sure it’s you driving without a license is going to be treated very seriously if you’re here illegally I think it’s it’s all good it will reduce criminal aliens for sure but I think it’ll also just be a disincentive that that Florida you know we probably have
As many foreign born as a percentage of any state but but we want people to do it right um and and we don’t want to have a massive number of people pouring look we’ve got people coming pouring into the state from from Illinois and New York and California as it is and
That’s legally you know we can’t have an influx beyond that we just wouldn’t be able to accommodate it so I think that this will help recognize that just a massive number of people pouring into a country that just doesn’t work uh and it’s been really really devastating to a
Lot of these jurisdictions you know they said they were Sanctuary jurisdictions so they were totally willing to talk the talk now when it’s time to walk the walk they’re singing a much different tune so we don’t want to be in that situation we’re not a sanctuary State we do not
Allow Sanctuary cities and we’re adding to what you know when when even the New York Times is admitting that our bills from last year were the strongest in the country you know we must be doing things right all right let’s go you guys want to come up you want to
Come up here and help us out guys want aen all right so this first one is going to be um driving without a valid license to you guys anyone else all the moms are like don’t give them to the K do we have um all right so this is the one to
Ensure that um local governments we’ve already banned them from issuing um IDs to people here illegally this uh ensures that they cannot accept ID issued in another jurisdiction like California oh moms if you want to trade in the the option right here take that all right and then this is the uh criminal
Penalties for people that are committing crimes after they’ve already been all right all right anyone else any of the deputies want one anyone else okay all right so looks like we’ve got we go all right thank you I’ll let your your mom decide which one that you can keep and which one you
Can’t keep um well well look this is this is great policy I want to thank the legislature for for moving forward with this uh we’ve been I mean this is really we’ve got more legislation that we’ll be signing we’ll be highlighting things in the budget over the next uh weeks and
Months but this was a great session for Law and Order we signed the legislation a couple weeks ago saying that the grand jury materials in Palm Beach from the Epstein uh investigation that those are going to be made public finally after all this time you know nobody’s been
Held accountable uh you know Epstein is dead and then you have Maxwell and is that the only people that did anything wrong I find that very hard to believe and yet the way that was handled uh back then and more so I think people deserve the truth so we’re doing that you have
These uh package of bills on the on the illegal immigration really really strong we’re going to be signing some good stuff uh next week uh that’s going to help uh keep communi safe there’s great things in the budget we have our $5,000 signing bonus for new off new officers
And new deputies any of you come from other states do we have any transplants um that that are here from us are you guys all local from here I think we got the Lo but you you’ve brought in people um and it’s been a great success story
To have folks that are necessarily being treated well in some of these other jurisdictions they can come to Florida obviously get treated better have better policies but then to get a $5,000 signing bonus it’s a token of our support that uh that we care we understand that what you’re doing is
Important to our community so I’m excited about today but I’m also excited about uh the winds we’re going to be able to put on the board in the ensuing uh weeks and months this was uh really really good and we’ve talked about our crime rate being at 50-year low we’ve
Had a 30% decline in retail theft since I’ve been Governor a lot of these other places it’s like legalization of shoplifting totally the opposite uh so there’s been a lot that’s been good but we want to continue uh to move the ball forward and get the job done so so
Thanks to everyone that helped made this made this possible uh this is a good day uh for for the State of Florida with that I could take a couple questions be because you want to be proactive we are proactive we can wait to get overwhelmed and then do something
Or we can say we’re seeing the possibilities we’ve already done things uh we’ve always supplemented my executive order of January of 2023 was additional supplement which really has helped I mean the fact that we’ve done just since January 22 these are Florida interdicting 670 illegal boats 13,561 illegal aliens on those boats I
Mean that’s a huge amount imagine if all those came to Florida just there and that’s not even counting what the Coast Guard has interdicted on their own so these get turned over so we’ve got a good footprint this expands it but we want to be prepared it’s the same thing
We do when we do hurricanes uh we will mobilize stuff and sometimes those resources end up not being needed but I would much rather do that and then have it not be needed then to say well we knew this was a possibility but we just
Didn’t want to do so we’re using all the tools at our disposal here I think it’s already had a big impact in Florida um I do think though uh your what Your assessment is true we have not seen that which I think is a good thing I think
Part of it is they know they’re likely not to get through but I think it’s also the fact that they know that the shest route to the United States is to just get to Mexico and then come across the border and that probably wasn’t true uh 20 years ago even though we’ve always
Had border problems but the way it’s been open now has just been been a disgrace and so people are obviously gonna going to do that so so we’re forward leaning on this uh we think it’s important and that’s just going to be the the way we roll in the State of
Florida uh stay tuned on that that’s not a bill that um that I’ve processed quite yet but they obviously we’re going to be moving on that soon and um my my the goal is we do not want to become like San Francisco or Los Angeles where these homeless encampments overwhelm daily
Life for for Citizens and it it creates a safety hazard there’s drugs obviously there’s a lot of mental health issues that go along with that it hurts businesses and and we’re just not going to do that and so it’s going to be a requirement for municipalities and
Counties to make sure they keep their public parks and streets clean and safe uh and not allow that to impinge on the quality of life of their citizens now there’s problems associated with why it gets to that point such as mental health that that I’ve said I I’d be willing to
Help out with so so we will be looking at ways to be effective but I think the the key that we’ll be able to say from State policy is we’re basically saying in the State of Florida a municipality or county is just simply not allowed to embrace San Francisco style policies uh
You can make other choices but you can’t make that choice why because every time that choice has been made uh the result has been destructive and we don’t want that in the state of Florida yeah yes I mean I think that that you know I had issues with the first version
There was a number of reasons but part of it is federal law already says under 13 you’re not allowed to have an account now that’s not being enforced so we’re going to have teeth to that and then for the the folks that are a little older than that like
145 it’s going to be okay you can’t get an account without your parents permission so we’re empowering parents to be able to make those decisions I’ve said for many years social media is a net negative on our society I think it’s a net negative on children but I also
Wanted parents to have a seat at the table and not just say if someone’s a freshman or sophomore in high school that even if the parent wanted to authorize limited use that we wouldn’t provide that option so I think that that’s a good balance there that’s being
Struck but the stuff for the young kids that is already you know you have this the the issue with the Tik Tok stuff where you have eight and nine year-olds calling Congress saying with Tik Tok thing is they’re not allowed to have accounts under federal law it just isn’t
Being enforced so we’re going to enforce that uh and I think it’s good and what they had what they did was it’s not even about the content even though there’s there’s problematic content it’s about the functionality the certain things that have addicted qualities that really
Draw the kids in and get that that that I so I think what it does is it’s really empowering parents the way it’s structured and the first bill didn’t quite do that and so we felt that they needed to do um a little bit more for
That but look I’m uh I’m a dad I got first grade kindergarten and pre3 and all three of my kids have mentioned things like Instagram and Snapchat when they do not get that in our home uh we don’t have it on I mean on our devices they don’t they don’t use
It but but they their their schoolmates talk about it these are things that are talked about so I don’t think it’s healthy to have elementary school kids uh you know on these phones all day and you know one of the things we did last legislative session uh 23 when we did
The teachers Bill of Rights one of the things that we did to help teachers was say schools can tell kids that you have to check your phone at the front of the classroom and actually sit in class and learn and not be on your device the whole time and the districts that have
Done that have reported everyone’s a lot happier by doing that and so this is this bill is part of that how you deal with schools I think there’s a lot but but we really want our kids uh I think to not just be wedded to a handful of
Social media apps I don’t think ultimately that’s something that is going to be healthy uh for our society as our kids grow up and their kids mat and the thing is with parents I want parents at the table I want the I wanted to have the parental
Consent element to that but at the same time uh to just say well parents should just be able that they should be able to control everything as a parent you just can’t control everything thing uh there’s all kinds of things that are there and so I do think parents you know
Would would appreciate some support so that this is structured at a way that increases their chance of having successful outcomes with their kids so so that’s really what we’re looking at and i’ would also just point out uh and I’ve been one that’s been saying you
Know not every use of social media is bad there’s kids that use it there’s there’s kids that have have learn from it and stuff like that you have to acknowledge that but and I think Grady would would would would Echo this social media is like a predator’s best friend I
Mean when they’re going after minors if they can get on social media and have access oh man that that’s that’s all that they want to do and that’s very very destructive and when I was growing up you know a predator could be in the neighborhood and try to do something
Which was obviously a problem but now a predator can be in your home virtually uh on a social media account talking directly to a 12 or 13-year-old kid uh that’s a huge huge problem uh well I mean I think you know if I could just wave a magic wand obviously
We would love to see so but what we did with uh the legislative leadership in 2022 so even before they took over they passed a big uh reform of the market you now have seven companies that have actually come in uh you have a huge depopulation of citizens and
Interestingly uh there’s a big chunk of the people that were taken out of citizens that actually have lower rates than they had under citizens uh which you can believe that so so that’s that’s that’s progress what we did in this budget was provide the mys safe Florida
Home so over $200 million where people can apply for Grants and this is for middle inome and low-income homeowners you can apply for a grant uh and you can get 2third of the repair or the Improvement through the grant so you do that and the people that have gone
Through the program 70% have had either a reduction in rate or stabilization in rate uh and and that’s a huge investment and we’ve done that now three years in a row that’s proven uh to be successful uh but ultimately you got to have people that want to come in and do business in
The state they didn’t really want to do that as much prior to these reforms I think those reforms have seen more Capital come in but it’s ultimately a private Market um and you’ve got to do that so yes I will ask you know I’d love
For people uh for them to to offer you know a dollar a year or or whatever but but the government can’t can’t uh set that it just doesn’t that’s not how a market works so we have more people in the market now um I think that that’s
Been a good thing the legislature also um gave everyone a one-year holiday on the insurance tax that goes on the homeowners policy not saying that that’s going to necessarily mitigate everything but every little bit helps uh with that and so so that is something that we’ll
Sign into law uh with respect uh to the tax package I do think there’s other companies that are looking to enter Florida’s Market uh and if you think about how much insurance has gone up Nationwide in a lot of these other states um you know you’ve had a lot of
Companies flee over the last couple years like a California here because of what the legislature did you actually have people coming in uh to the market and that’s what you need if you don’t have that if you only have one or two options then they’re never ever going to
Be in a situation uh where you’re going to be able to shop for more competitive rates it’s not authorized by law that that is an abuse of the parole the parole in in federal law is very limited Ashley has gone to to court and we’ve actually won victories on Biden’s
Abusive Parole in the Northern District of Florida so for him to do this whole program underneath the parole it just doesn’t work so you’re bringing somebody in like they brought in the guy from Haiti military age male he’s he’s dumped I think in massach I think he came in
Maybe in New York and then ends up in Massachusetts and then he’s now accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old it’s like okay what the law did not require you to to bring that person in you are abusing the law to do that how is that benefiting the American people
This whole idea of anything we’re talking about immigration uh it should be what benefits Americans and if it doesn’t benefit Americans then then you should not be doing it so I think what he’s done is is um is not consistent with the law but I think his abuse of
Parole is something that he’s done since 2021 that is not the reason that was there he’s effectively changing the law uh without Congressional consent but I’d also say this um you know as a republican I hear these Republicans in Washington you know they they rail against the Border they rail against the
Inflation and yet next week they’re going to turn around and fund Biden B Biden’s border policies they are not going to fund they are not going to fight to defund his his programs you could very easily defund his use of parole you could very easily uh mandate construction of a boort there’s things
That they could do they haven’t even tried to do any of that so so they’re going to fund most likely his policies going forward and they’re likely to spend money at a higher level than even this bad budget deal of last summer called for what’s caused the inflation
It’s the borrowing spending and printing of money so I would like to see some action to fight back against these policies we’re doing our part in Florida to fight back but this is actual legislation this is actual executive action by mobilizing the resources in Southern Florida with the vessels it’s
Not just going out and pontificating or complaining about it so you have the power of the purse if you do not like what Biden is doing on immigration which I do not and I think most Americans do not then choose not to fund what he’s doing on immigration because you know
What that’s why we sent you there all right thanks everybody
