According to Florida Lt. Governor Jeannette Nuñez, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration will deport illegal immigrants who enter Florida to Delaware.
When questioned about the historic influx of Cubans to South Florida, Nuñez responded, in part, as follows: “That’s why the governor has worked with the legislature to secure funding to make sure…that people who are coming illegally…that they don’t stay here with their arms crossed, thinking about what they will be able to do. Honestly, we’re going to send that person to the president’s home state of Delaware.
The Governor’s campaign later clarified that Cubans arriving in South Florida would not be subject to the ban, though.
The Lieutenant Governor added: “This is going to be worse than Mariel, worse than everything that happened when we saw the impact of the ‘80s and to do nothing is not an option.”
Such an action would be in line with what other Republican governors, such as those in Texas and Arizona, have already done, a campaign to hold Democratic mayors and US President Joe Biden responsible for the massive number of undocumented immigrants entering the country.
For DeSantis’ Republican Party, Cuban-Americans, especially those in South Florida, are a crucial voting bloc. Pew Research finds that there is a 20-point difference in how many Cuban-Americans identify with the GOP.
In a tweet posted on Saturday afternoon in response to criticism, Christina Pushaw, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign, clarified Nuez’s comments regarding Cuban migrants by making a distinction between Cuban migrants and people who enter the country illegally.
Pushaw claims that the remarks were misinterpreted.
No matter where they came from, (Nuñez) made it clear that those who enter Florida illegally should be transported out of the state, Pushaw said. “If someone fled communist repression in Cuba and arrived in Miami on a raft, they are legal because they are a refugee. This isn’t hard to understand.”
The two Democrats vying to unseat DeSantis in November strongly rebuked Nuez’s remarks.
