The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, maintains his firm stance against illegal immigration and has announced his intention to veto the bill passed by the state legislature. He argues that his proposal offers more robust solutions, including strict control over the transfer of remittances from Florida to other countries.
During an event in Palm Beach, DeSantis criticized the current legislation in the state, known as the "Trump Law against illegal immigration", and reaffirmed his intention to block it.
His administration is promoting additional measures to discourage undocumented immigration, focusing on the money that immigrants send back to their countries of origin.
One of the pillars of their proposal is the implementation of a system that verifies the legal status of those sending remittances.
According to DeSantis, money transfers abroad represent an incentive for undocumented immigration, as they allow people without documents to earn income in the United States and send it to their families or, in some cases, to illegal organizations.
"Many of these people from third-world countries can earn more money here doing informal jobs than in their own countries. They then send that money as remittances, sometimes to relatives, sometimes to friends, and occasionally to cartels, to be honest," the governor stated.
To restrict this flow of money, DeSantis proposes that only American citizens and legal residents with visas should be allowed to send remittances, excluding undocumented immigrants.
His plan includes the implementation of a mechanism similar to E-Verify, the system that already requires companies with more than 25 employees to verify the immigration status of their workers.
"We now have E-Verify in Florida, and we want to implement a similar system for the sending of remittances", he explained.
According to data from the Central Banks and the Central American Monetary Intergovernmental Council, in 2023, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua received nearly 42 billion dollars in remittances, which represents a crucial source of income for these countries.
For DeSantis, blocking this funding avenue would reduce the appeal of entering the United States undocumented. "The incentives to come illegally would disappear because they wouldn't be able to send remittances," he argued.
However, her proposal has not been well received by the Republican leadership in the state legislature, which has chosen to focus on combating undocumented immigrants who commit crimes, rather than addressing the issue of remittances.
The Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Daniel Pérez, emphasized that the legislative priority is to toughen penalties for undocumented immigrants involved in criminal activities.
"It may be that the governor disagrees with the law because he does not have all the power he wanted to stop illegal immigration," Pérez stated.
The confrontation between the governor and the legislature continues to escalate, with the possibility that DeSantis will veto the approved bill.
If this happens, lawmakers could try to override the veto, but they would need the support of two-thirds of the votes, a challenge that would test the unity of the Republican Party in Florida.
While DeSantis travels the state promoting his immigration and financial control strategy, the legislature is preparing to respond.
The outcome of this political clash could determine the future of immigration policies in Florida and set a precedent for other states with high immigration rates.
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