Florida Grand Jury Calls for Increased Immigration Laws Targeting Illegal Alien Smugglers

A Florida grand jury is calling for changes to the state’s immigration laws, specifically targeting illegal alien smugglers, deeming it an “escalating threat.”

The grand jury concluded that the “smuggling of illegal aliens not only endangers Floridians, but also generates huge sums of money for TCOs (transnational criminal organizations) which are used to further a host of criminal activities, notably drug trafficking and human trafficking.”

“Additionally, the illegal aliens being smuggled into and within the state are put into a vulnerable position and are often exploited by criminals. This is particularly troubling when dealing with unaccompanied alien minors,” the presentment reads.

The jury’s presentation follows Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) action in July 2022, in which he announced a series of actions the Sunshine State is taking to combat President Biden’s reckless immigration policies. 

“What we have seen in the year and a half, during this administration, over three million people illegally crossed the U.S. Mexico border,” DeSantis said at the time. 

“If they just get to the southern border, you come in, they’re just going to release you into society. And so, what has that gotten us? It’s gotten us record human trafficking, record sex trafficking, and record drug trafficking,” he continued, also pointing to the rampant fentanyl crisis.

While Florida has taken action by banning sanctuary cities, for example, DeSantis suggested current actions were not going far enough. As a result, he announced the state “filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court requesting an order to impanel a statewide grand jury to examine international human smuggling networks that bring illegal aliens across the southern border, and ultimately, to states like Florida.”

He said at the time:

The grand jury will examine the effects of those international networks on Florida and how they have violated Florida law, and the purpose of the grand jury will be to investigate individuals and organizations that are actively working with foreign nationals, drug cartels, coyotes to illegally smuggle minors, some as young as two years old, across the border and into Florida. This is just wrong what they’re doing, and we are going to go after it.

The grand jury would also, specifically, investigate methods to transport unaccompanied alien children. 

“We don’t want to be like San Francisco or L.A. or some of these states where they’re basically just sanctuary jurisdictions, and the rule of law has effectively been suspended. So that’s not gonna fly in the state of Florida,” DeSantis added. 

The grand jury presentation comes months after DeSantis made waves after sending dozens of illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard — a move which shocked and offended sanctuary city-supporting leftists across the country. 

“And it just shows you, you know, their virtue signaling is a fraud, ok?” the governor said in response to their freakout. “They are supporting policies that are just frankly indefensible. It is not defensible for a superpower to not have any control over the territory of its country, over the borders of its country.”