FIRST ON FOX: Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is urging Attorney General Merrick Garland against any “impermissible” moves to investigate migrant smuggling in Florida, after California Gov. Gavin Newsom urged the DOJ to do so.
“While I urge you not to bail out California or engage in another political investigation or litigation, if you make the unconscionable and baseless determination to do so, Florida stands ready to fight the DOJ’s overreach,” the letter in Garland, obtained by Fox. Digital News says.
Newsom, along with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, wrote to Garland on July 6 about Florida’s “unauthorized alien transportation program,” which brings migrants in the so-called sanctuary jurisdictions of the United States.
NEWSOM ASKS DOJ TO INVESTIGATE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRANSPORTATION FROM DESANTIS TO CALIFORNIA
Florida AG Ashley Moody defends migrant flights from Florida to California and Massachusetts. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The program has transported migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and California. It picked up additional funding signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year and is one of many similar initiatives that some Republican states implemented in response to the ongoing border crisis.
Newsom alleged that while it is common for jurisdictions and NGOs to facilitate travel elsewhere in the US, “this scheme is different.” The letter cites reports that migrants were tricked into taking flights “based on promises of jobs and shelter”.
In the letter, he urges the DOJ “to open federal criminal and civil investigations into these incidents.”
NEWSOM THREATENS DESANTIS WITH ‘TRANSFORMERS’ FOR MIGRANT FLIGHTS INTO SACRAMENTO
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a meeting with all U.S. attorneys in Washington, Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (AP/Jose Luis Magana)
“It is unconscionable to use people as political props to persuade them to travel to another state based on false or misleading representations. We urge the USDOJ to investigate possible violations of federal law by those involved in this scheme,” he said. to say.
Separately, California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Florida of “state-sanctioned kidnapping.”
But in his letter, Moody says there is “no basis” for the DOJ to investigate the Sun State, and repeats claims made by the state that the relocation program is voluntary and that contractors were there to ensure – it is known that the migrants went to non-governmental organizations.
Moody dismisses California’s decision as “political deception, not a legal request” and says the call is because Gov. Ron DeSantis is running for president and could beat President Biden.
“Instead, they expect the DOJ to be used inappropriately, once again, against a Republican presidential candidate during an election. This seems to be seeking from the DOJ exactly what you promised the DOJ would not do.”
In a statement, Moody called the request a “ridiculous political stunt.”
DESANTIS DEFENDS MIGRANT FLIGHTS INTO CALIFORNIA, BLAME SANCTUARY JURISDICTIONS FOR ENCOURAGING ‘OPEN BORDER’
Governor Gavin Newsom is seen at NASA Ames Research Center’s Moffett Federal Airfield before U.S. President Bidens arrival in Mountain View, California, U.S., on June 19, 2023. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“Our voluntary immigration relocation program is lawful, and California’s application does not identify any violations of federal law,” he said. “As an attorney general who leads hundreds of highly qualified attorneys and has led dozens of legal challenges against this administration, it is strange that California is not competent enough to articulate even a minimal legal basis for its request. “.
The move comes as part of an ongoing fight between California and Florida over the issue, as well as between Republican- and Democratic-led states more broadly on the issue.
As they grapple with an ongoing border crisis they blame on the Biden administration, Republican states like Florida and Texas have been ferrying migrants to states or cities with “sanctuary policies” they say encourage border migration.
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“They attacked the previous administration’s efforts to try to have border security. And so those are the policies that they’re setting. And then what?” DeSantis said last month. “When they have to deal with some of the fruits of it, do they suddenly get really, really upset about it?”
Meanwhile, Moody has taken legal action against the Biden administration, scoring a major victory when a judge agreed to block several migrant parole policies, including one that saw migrants released into the United States without court dates in cause of overcrowding.
“Another opportunity for litigation will only shine a brighter light on the Biden administration’s complete abdication of responsibility regarding immigration and the danger it has placed on our country and our citizens.”
Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
