Gov. DeSantis says removal from U.S. is not a ‘punishment’

The Florida Legislature races the clock for a budget deal amid divisions between the House and Senate and a feud with DeSantis.

Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to defend the state as a federal Judge questions a recently passed state law against illegal immigration.

“It is not punishment to be removed from this country,” DeSantis said in Miramar at an event spotlighting Operation Tidal Wave. “If you’re going to be punished, then you get the full panoply of due process, but these are not punishments that are being rendered. It is just the consequence of being here illegally.”

SB 4C proscribes penalties for illegal entry and illegal reentry, mandates imprisonment for being in Florida illegally and capital punishment for any undocumented immigrant who commits capital crimes.

Judge Kathleen Williams, who was originally a Barack Obama appointee to the Southern District of Florida, questions its constitutionality, saying the law conflicts with the Supremacy Clause and the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

DeSantis said he expected this outcome, but believes appeals will go the state’s way.

“In terms of this Judge, we are not at all surprised. We knew that they would go in and do that. The Legislature structured that state law in a way that was different from Texas and some of the others that have run into problems. So we actually feel confident that we’ll ultimately be vindicated on that. It should be a crime to enter the state of Florida illegally. We have police power to be able to do that.”

DeSantis has previously said he would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. That said, he has been a frequent critic of the court as not being conservative enough for him.

And those criticisms recurred Thursday.

“The U.S. Supreme Court can end this charade. They’ve had opportunities to do it, and they haven’t been willing to do it. They’ve created some of the mess in the immigration space with the jurisprudence,” DeSantis said.

Attorney General James Uthmeier has appealed the ruling after Williams ordered that it not be enforced. Williams accused him of circumventing the rule by not explicitly telling law enforcement not to enforce the disputed law.