DeSantis pushes for feds to approve emergency management agency to house migrants
Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, fields questions from reporters at the state emergency operations center in Tallahassee in advance of a winter weather event on Jan. 21, 2025. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the Department of Homeland Security to grant the state's emergency management agency authority to temporarily house immigrants detained for deportation.
The governor floated this idea during a press conference with federal immigration officials, praising Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, for his ability to move resources during hurricanes.
DeSantis and officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection claimed a large-scale operation, nicknamed Tidal Wave, in the state last week resulted in 1,120 arrests.
'We have the capacity to set it up quickly, but we're not going to do that without the approval of the Department of Homeland Security, and I know they're working on exactly what they want to do after Tidal Wave. This is what they have focused on,' DeSantis said at the ICE office in Miramar.
'So, Kevin Guthrie, Division of Emergency Management, they can actually absolutely do that, and that could be potentially a short-term support for the lack of space that the feds may have.'
Guthrie attended the press conference but didn't speak. The emergency agency's X account posted that its staff participated in Operation Tidal Wave.
Another idea DeSantis pushed for is to deputize military judicial officials within the Florida National Guard to act as immigration judges under the U.S. Department of Justice.
Those plans are not new, though. Larry Keefe, executive director of the new State Board of Immigration Enforcement, initially talked about them in a public meeting in March. Keefe, who organized Gov. Ron DeSantis' migrant flight from Texas to Martha's Vineyard in 2022, views involvement by DEM as essential to enacting President Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations.
Orlando Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani criticized the idea of DEM housing immigrants when Keefe first mentioned it publicly.
'FDEM should be focused on responding to hurricanes and natural disasters — not engaging in immigration enforcement,' Eskamani said. 'I will also add that the main beneficiary of this concept will be the for-profit private prison industry, who will receive our tax dollars to hold individuals without due process.'
ICE already faces overcrowding in Florida detention centers. Immigrant-rights groups, detainees, and Democrats have raised alarms about conditions at detention centers in Miami and Pompano Beach.
Marie Ange Blaise, a 44-year-old from Haiti, died in ICE custody on Friday, according to a Tuesday announcement from ICE. Her cause of death is under investigation.
Meanwhile, ICE acknowledged a temporary structure at the Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami that Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson described as a tent city that could house 400 people. Wilson and Democratic U.S. Rep Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick announced plans for a visit Friday to the Pompano Beach ICE center.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
14 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Governments scramble to understand Trump's latest travel ban before it takes effect Monday
Advertisement There will also be heightened restrictions on visitors from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. North Korea and Syria, which were on the banned list in the first Trump administration, were spared this time. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up While many of the listed countries send few people to the United States, Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela had been major sources of immigration in recent years. A vendor waits for customers in front of the former US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 5, 2025. Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press Trump tied the new ban to Sunday's terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it underscored the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas. The suspect, who is accused of turning a makeshift flamethrower on a group of people, is from Egypt, which is not on Trump's restricted list. The Department of Homeland Security says he overstayed a tourist visa. Advertisement The travel ban results from a Jan. 20 executive order Trump issued requiring government agencies to compile a report on 'hostile attitudes' toward the U.S. and whether entry from certain countries represented a national security risk. Visa overstays Trump said some countries had 'deficient' screening for passports and other public documents or have historically refused to take back their own citizens. He relied extensively on an annual Homeland Security report of people who remain in the U.S. after their visas expired. Measuring overstay rates has challenged experts for decades, but the government has made a limited attempt annually since 2016. Trump's proclamation cites overstay rates for eight of the 12 banned countries. While Trump's list captures many of the most egregious offenders, it omits others. Djibouti, for example, had a 23..9% overstay rate among business visitors and tourists in the 12-month period through September 2023, higher than seven countries on the banned list and six countries on the restricted list. The findings are 'based on sketchy data and a misguided concept of collective punishment,' said Doug Rand, a former Biden administration official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Decision is a blow to Venezuelans Venezuela's government had already warned its citizens against traveling to the U.S. A video released last week by the foreign ministry told Venezuelans the U.S. 'is a dangerous country where human rights of immigrants are nonexistent.' 'If you are thinking about traveling, cancel your plans immediately,' it urged. But the administration's decision is a significant blow to Venezuelans, who were already limited in their U.S. travel plans since the governments broke off diplomatic relations in 2019. The announcement stunned the family of María Aldana, who has long worked multiple jobs in Caracas to support her brother's dream to study engineering in the U.S. The family has spent more than $6,000 to finance his goals. Advertisement Aldana, 24, said her distraught brother, who enrolled at a Southern California university two years ago, called the family crying. 'We did it all legally,' Aldana said. The African Union Commission, meanwhile, appealed to the United States to reconsider 'in a manner that is balanced, evidence-based, and reflective of the long-standing partnership between the United States and Africa.' International aid groups and refugee resettlement organizations were harsher: 'This latest proclamation is an attempt to further eviscerate lawful immigration pathways under the false guise of national security,' said Sarah Mehta, the American Civil Liberties Union's deputy director of policy and government affairs for immigration. Stephen Yale-Loehr, a retired Cornell University Law School professor and expert in immigration law, said the ban is likely to withstand legal challenges, noting the Supreme Court eventually allowed a ban to take effect in Trump's first term. Trump's invocation this week of national security, along with exceptions for green-card holders, athletes and others, could also help the ban stand up in court. Shock in Iran The news came as a shock to many in Iran despite the decades of enmity between the two countries. Reports suggest thousands of university students each year travel to America to study, and others have extended families living in America, some of whom fled after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the shah. 'My elder daughter got a bachelor's degree from a top Iranian university and planned to continue in the U.S., but now she is badly distressed,' Nasrin Lajvardi said. Tensions also remain high because negotiations over Iran's nuclear program have yet to reach any agreement, but Tehran resident Mehri Soltani offered rare support for Trump's decision. Advertisement 'Those who have family members in the U.S., it's their right to go, but a bunch of bad people and terrorists and murderers want to go there as well,' he said. 'America has to cancel it' Outside the former U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, a Taliban guard expressed his disappointment. 'America has to cancel it,' Ilias Kakal said. A woman shops in a market in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 5, 2025. Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press The Afghanistan travel ban was announced as forms of support for Afghans who worked with the U.S. are being steadily eroded under the Trump administration. A refugee program has been suspended, and there is no funding to help them leave Afghanistan or resettle in the U.S., although a ban exception was made for people with special immigrant visas, a program created to help those in danger because they worked with the U.S. during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. In addition, many people who 'served shoulder-to-shoulder' with the U.S did not qualify for the special visa program, according to No One Left Behind, a group that has advocated for Afghans who worked with the U.S. Khalid Khan, an Afghan refugee now living in Pakistan, said he worked for the U.S. military for eight years. 'I feel abandoned,' Khan said. 'So long as Trump is there, we are nowhere.' Since the Taliban took over the country in 2021, only Afghans with foreign passports or green cards were able to travel to the United States with any ease, travel agents said. First term ban During his first term, Trump issued an executive order banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries. It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his young presidency. Advertisement The order was retooled amid legal challenges, until a version was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Trump and others have defended the initial ban on national security grounds, arguing it was aimed at protecting the country and not founded on anti-Muslim bias. However, the president had called for an explicit ban on Muslims during his first campaign for the White House. Amiri reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano, Rebecca Santana, Jon Gambrell, Ellen Knickmeyer, Omar Farouk, Nasser Karimi, Elliot Spagat, Elena Becatoros and Danica Coto contributed to this report.
CBS News
14 minutes ago
- CBS News
Canadian drug trafficker on "Most Wanted List" sentenced in Detroit federal court
A Canadian man who led an eight-year drug trafficking conspiracy in the United States was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. Khaophone Sychantha, 43, was convicted of one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, ecstasy, and BZP, one count of possession of methamphetamine, ecstasy, and BZP with intent to distribute, and one count of possession of ecstasy and BZP with intent to distribute. At one point, the press release said, Sychantha was listed on the Homeland Security Investigations' Ten Most Wanted List. Because Sychantha is not a United States citizen, he will be deported back to Canada after serving his sentence. Gorgon was supported in the announcement by Jared Murphey, acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, Detroit field office. The Homeland Security Investigations team led the case. "This sentencing brings Sychantha's cross border criminal enterprise to a fitting end," Murphy said. "The collective effort by the case agents, the prosecutors and our international partners is astounding, and I commend them all for a job well done." Evidence at trial showed that Sychantha led an organization for about eight years that directed several couriers to transport hundreds of thousands of pills and tens of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds across the United States-Canada border. His couriers — many of whom were caught and convicted themselves — traveled within multiple states. The sentence was issued by Chief United States Judge Sean F. Cox.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says he and Elon Musk 'had a great relationship,' but it might be over now
Trump responded to Elon Musk's criticism of the "Big Beautiful Bill." "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship," he said. "I don't know if we will anymore." "Such ingratitude," Musk, who spent nearly $300 million to elect Trump and other Republicans, wrote on X. President Donald Trump is finally responding to Elon Musk's criticism of his "Big Beautiful Bill." "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship," Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday. "I don't know if we will anymore." Trump told reporters that Musk's criticism of the bill likely stemmed primarily from the phase-out of the electric vehicle tax credit, which would likely impact his company, Tesla. "You know, Elon's upset because we took the EV mandate… which was a lot of money for electric vehicles," Trump said. "And they're having a hard time, the electric vehicles." "Elon knew this from the beginning," Trump added. Musk fired back minutes later, saying that while he thought the EV phase-out was unfair, he was more concerned about the "MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill." He later wrote on X that without him, Trump would have lost the election, Democrats would have gained control of the House, and Republicans would've had a smaller majority in the Senate. "Such ingratitude," wrote Musk, who spent nearly $300 million to elect Trump and other Republicans last year. In the Oval Office, Trump also said that Musk was lashing out because he "missed" being in the White House. "I'll be honest, I think he misses the place. I think he got out there and all of a sudden, he wasn't in this beautiful Oval Office," Trump said. "I'll tell you, he's not the first. People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point, they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile. I don't know what it is. It's sort of Trump derangement syndrome, I guess they call it." The tech titan first unleashed on the "Big Beautiful Bill," which is set to serve as the centerpiece of Trump's legislative agenda, on Tuesday. He's kept up his criticism ever since. "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk wrote on X on Tuesday. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination." Musk main criticism has been of the bill's projected impact on the federal deficit. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that in its current form, the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years, while the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has said that number would be $2.5 trillion. Musk previously said that the bill undermined the work of DOGE, which has sought to cut billions of dollars in federal spending. Republicans on Capitol Hill have largely brushed off Musk's criticism. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that Musk is "flat wrong" about the bill, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that the tech titan is "entitled to that opinion," but "we're going to proceed full speed ahead." Read the original article on Business Insider
