Florida

As the government of Haiti appears poised to collapse in the face of a violent revolution by criminal gangs, the nearby U.S. state of Florida is preparing for a tidal wave of illegal aliens from the devastated island nation. According to Politico, lawmakers in Florida have already issued warnings about the potential national security risk of so many third-world illegals coming to the U.S. as a result of the humanitarian crisis, especially as Congress has not yet determined a definitive policy towards Haiti.

On Monday, the state of Florida finally settled a lawsuit that had lasted for several years regarding the fate of a parental rights law that had come to be derogatorily known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. According to The Hill, the settlement agreement determined that the law, the 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act, will be kept in place but will tone down certain portions that were determined to be too close to violations of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

An undercover human trafficking operation in Florida found that 21 illegal foreign nationals were using papers given to them by the Department of Homeland Security to fly to major cities in the United States for free to engage in sex trafficking, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “Federal policy drives illegal immigrant crime and victimization,” Judd said when announcing the results of a multi-agency undercover operation that led to the arrest of 228 people. Among them, 21 people arrested were in the country illegally, citizens of Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.

Florida is serving criminals notice: Don't come to spring break to cause trouble. On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in Miami Beach that law enforcement will be taking a hard line with people who plan on coming to Florida during spring break to commit crimes.

I am digging into a few other matters related to this case, the contempt order issued Thursday against veteran investigative reporter Catherine Herridge, and a new appellate court ruling overturning the use of a sentencing enhancement for J6ers convicted of the controversial 1512(c)(2) charge so unfortunately I can’t write a full article on yesterday’s hearing that I attended in person in Fort Pierce. So I want to share my X posts about what happened. A few additional observations: Judge Cannon’s approach and style is inimical from that of judges in D.C. For part of the proceedings, I kept thinking how DOJ’s J6 prosecution in Washington would be so different if only half the judges were as careful and prepared and nontheatrical as Cannon. I shared this with a J6 defense attorney last night and he agreed.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Thursday that will publicly release grand jury documents, including those related to the late Jeffery Epstein. Before his death in a Florida prison cell, Epstein stood accused of running a massive child sex trafficking ring.

A bill that would put term limits on Florida county commissioners passed a key hurdle in the Senate Committee Rules on Monday. Senate Bill 438 is sponsored by state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill. It would introduce term limits for county commissioners and would require certain counties to hold a referendum election to ask voters if they approve or disapprove of term limits in their county.

The Florida state House and Senate on Thursday approved legislation to impose tight restrictions on social media access for minors. Under the plan, young Floridians under 16 years old would be barred from access several social media platforms, which in turn would be required to delete the accounts of underaged persons, Politico reported. It would also require that websites producing sensitive content, such as pornography, work to verify the age of users.

Foreign-owned social media platforms such as TikTok could face a big change in the Sunshine State if a bill currently being advanced by the Florida Senate gets signed into law. Senate Bill 1448 is sponsored by state Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, and would add transparency for social media platforms operating in Florida that are owned by foreign adversaries.

More than 4,000 police officers have moved to Florida or become new recruits through Florida’s law enforcement recruitment bonus program. The program was first launched in April 2022 after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law allocating $125 million for bonuses to benefit local police officers, sheriff’s deputies, paramedics, EMTs and firefighters statewide.

A bill that would have possibly prevented Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from sending the Florida State Guard to the nation’s southern border has been rewritten to remove that provision. Instead, House Bill 1551, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Giallombardo, R- Cape Coral, was replaced by a committee substitute authored by the Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee.

Florida authorities have caught multiple individuals involved in petition fraud related to a radical effort to enshrine late-term abortion into Florida’s state constitution. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced this week that inspectors arrested a “paid petition circulator” and issued an arrest warrant for a second petition circulator after they submitted 133 invalid constitutional amendment petitions in numerous counties.

A nonprofit group is gathering signatures to put Medicaid expansion in Florida on the ballot in 2026. “Our mission is to let voters decide whether Florida should expand Medicaid, bring billions of our tax dollars home, increase jobs, grow our economy, and provide access to care to over one million people,” said the group, Florida Decides Healthcare. “Together, we can make health care a reality for all Floridians."

On Thursday, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) announced that the state of Florida will be sending up to 1,000 of its National Guard troops to Texas to assist state authorities in securing the border. According to the New York Post, a press release from the governor’s office explained that the troops will be deployed “based on Texas’ needs,” and will include such duties as helping to repel illegal aliens trying to come across the southern border. It is the first time ever that the Florida National Guard has been deployed to somewhere outside of the state.

Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters released in January the manifesto written by Ryan Palmeter, who fatally shot three people in a racially motivated attack that happened last August at a Dollar General in Florida last year before turning the gun on himself. The manifesto was released following the completion of an investigation into the circumstances that led to the shooting by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department.