Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took aim at Florida’s new immigration bill at a press conference Monday, calling the proposal “immoral.”
Politico reported Monday that López Obrador called Florida’s GOP-backed immigration bill “immoral” and “politicking.” The bill, which was approved by Florida lawmakers last week, granted $12 million to a Florida program that has previously been used to fly migrants from the state to Martha’s Vineyard, a move blasted by critics as inhumane.
“Why does [Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis] have to take advantage of people’s pain, of migrants’ pain, of people’s need for political gain,” López Obrador said at a press conference, according to Politico. “This is immoral. This is politicking.”
“Now, I found out that the Florida governor — imagine, Florida, which is full of migrants — is taking repressive, inhumane measures against migrants in Florida because he wants to be a candidate,” he added.
If enacted, the bill would also prohibit funding for granting identification documents to undocumented immigrants, and it would invalidate drivers licenses issued to undocumented immigrants by other states when in Florida.
Leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) condemned the proposals last month, saying in a statement that the new moves were part of “Florida Republicans’ anti-immigrant agenda.”
“The recent policies implemented by the Republican-led Florida Legislature demonstrate Governor DeSantis’ preference for fearmongering, promoting racial profiling, and damaging Florida’s economy, rather than supporting the state’s Hispanic population in their time of need,” the statement read.
Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for DeSantis, said in a statement to The Hill that illegal immigration in Florida is a “problem willfully enabled by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure our nation’s southern border.”
“The media has been deliberately inaccurate about this distinction between legal and illegal immigration to create this very sort of outrage based on a false premise,” Griffin said in the statement.
“Surely, Mexican president Obrador also has his own measures in place to prevent illegal immigration from impacting Mexico,” he added. “Every country in the world defends its borders with a sovereign right to do so. The U.S. should as well. Governor DeSantis will act within his authority when this Administration fails or refuses to do so.”
— Updated 5:56 p.m.