{"id":1664397,"date":"2022-09-29T11:39:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T15:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1664397"},"modified":"2022-09-29T11:39:44","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T15:39:44","slug":"democrats-are-now-targeting-desantis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-are-now-targeting-desantis\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Are Now Targeting DeSantis"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-are-now-targeting-desantis%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1664397&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><em>News Analysis<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Conservative advocates and observers are calling out Democrat attempts to criminally investigate the immigration policies that Florida\u2019s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is following by transporting migrants to so-called sanctuary cities.<\/p>\n<p>A week ago, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, a Texas Democrat, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/texas-sheriff-launches-investigation-of-suspected-activities-after-flights-to-marthas-vineyard_4741489.html\">opened<\/a> up a criminal investigation after DeSantis chartered two flights taking illegal immigrants from Texas to Martha\u2019s Vineyard, the island haven off the coast of Massachusetts, which bills itself as a \u201csanctuary destination\u201d for illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n<p>Sanctuary cities pledge to support illegal immigrant communities, and limit or refuse to cooperate with law enforcement officials in removing illegal immigrants from the country.<\/p>\n<p>Later California\u2019s Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcra.com\/article\/gov-gavin-newsom-calls-democrats-go-on-offense\/41380293\">rumored<\/a> rival of DeSantis for the presidential election in 2024 along with Biden, called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open a criminal investigation into DeSantis over the incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m formally requesting the DOJ begin an immediate investigation into these inhumane efforts to use kids as political pawns,\u201d Newsom said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GavinNewsom\/status\/1570494973241610240\">tweet<\/a>, which included the referral letter he sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.<\/p>\n<p>The House Homeland Security Committee also <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/national-security\/3657030-doj-dhs-face-request-to-investigate-desantis-migrant-flights\/\">wrote<\/a> to the DOJ and Department of Homeland Security requesting they open investigations into the flights.<\/p>\n<p>One big DeSantis booster, who lost her 21-year-old son to an auto accident with an illegal immigrant in 2007, Kiyan Michael, is troubled by the implications for the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy don\u2019t we investigate what we need to be investigating like why our borders are wide open?\u201d Michael told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>Michael noted that DeSantis swore an oath to protect the citizens of Florida and keep them safe, as did the officials in Texas.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4735132\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4735132\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/09\/16\/GettyImages-1242599140-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/noscript> Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Unite and Win Rally in support of Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano at the Wyndham Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Aug. 19, 2022. (Jeff Swensen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>The Human Cost of Illegal Immigration<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>For those who think what happens in Texas doesn\u2019t impact the people of Florida, Michael has a simple question for Sheriff Salazar who is investigating DeSantis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy child was killed by somebody who came through the southern border, probably. Why was that allowed to happen? What answer does the sheriff have for that?\u201d added Michael, who said she found the investigation into DeSantis\u2019 actions hypocritical from a sheriff who swore to uphold the law and protect the people of Texas while ignoring the people pouring across the border illegally.<\/p>\n<p>Salazar has previously said that his county isn\u2019t a \u201csanctuary city,\u201d adding that he also didn\u2019t have the resources to enforce federal immigration law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not equipped manpower wise or training wise or liability wise to be immigration officers at present,\u201d Salazar <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/news\/2017\/02\/6\/bexar-county-sheriff--san-antonio--county-not--sanctuary-city--jurisdiction-\">said<\/a> in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Bexar County Sherrif\u2019s Office told The Epoch Times that the office \u201cis not investigating Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but rather conducting an investigation into migrants who were alleged to have been lured away from the migrant resource center in San Antonio, [Texas], under false pretenses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The spokesperson added the office didn\u2019t have an update on the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe investigation is ongoing as our investigators are working to obtain statements from the migrants who were flown from San Antonio to Martha\u2019s Vineyard,\u201d the spokesperson said in an email. \u201cOnce our investigators have concluded their interviews and investigation for this incident, we will provide an update publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a reaction to her own loss, Michael is running as a Republican for Florida\u2019s State House in District 16, which represents Jacksonville.<\/p>\n<p>Last week she put out a campaign <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iIpzXBneDFQ\">advertisement<\/a> for DeSantis\u2019 gubernatorial reelection bid in the Sunshine State talking about the death of her son, Brandon, whose car was hit by an illegal immigrant so hard that it flipped, according to her account in the ad.<\/p>\n<h2>Higher Road Fatalities<\/h2>\n<p>Illegal immigration left unchecked causes bad things to happen to good people, Michael said, adding that what happened to her son when he was killed in a traffic accident with a person residing in the country illegally, isn\u2019t that uncommon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the ten states with the highest concentration of illegal immigrants, (according to FAIR\u2019s most recent estimates: California, Texas, New York, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey and Colorado) 14.6 percent of driving fatalities are caused by an unlicensed or improperly licensed driver,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fairus.org\/issue\/illegal-immigration\/unlicensed-kill\">said<\/a> the advocacy group, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), noting that this represents a 7 percent increase over the nationwide average.<\/p>\n<p>FAIR contends that the growing percentage of incidents involving hit-and-run fatalities in the United States, which <a href=\"https:\/\/aaafoundation.org\/hit-and-run-crashes-prevalence-contributing-factors-and-countermeasures\/\">grew<\/a> 34 percent between 2006 and 2016, is a consequence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-illegal-immigration\">illegal immigration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The group said this is in part because in Mexico it is not illegal to leave the scene of an accident, as it is in the United States.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Process is Punishment<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>One prominent attorney, who represents conservative clients at the highest level, warned that the tactic of criminalizing actions of political figures is likely to be effective even if the criminal charges don\u2019t stick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause in all of these cases, the process is the punishment,\u201d attorney Robert Costello, who represents Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon in cases investigated by the DOJ told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou do not have to indict anybody; you don\u2019t have to charge them with a crime: All you have to do is investigate them for a crime,\u201d Costello added, while noting that in addition to allowing political opponents to say the target is under criminal investigation, the tactic has the added benefit in destroying the target\u2019s bank accounts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou may know that hiring counsel is pretty expensive in situations like this,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Biden Administration is Flying Illegal Immigrants Too<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Rosemary Jenks, a public policy attorney specializing in illegal immigration with advocacy group NumbersUSA,\u00a0noted that the very policy that Democrats are condemning in DeSantis of flying illegal immigrants around the country is the same policy <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2021\/11\/17\/politics\/desantis-florida-republicans-routine-migrant-flights-immigration\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">used<\/a>\u00a0by the Biden administration, which has been flying illegal immigrants into cities around the country for the last two years, a move which also occurred under President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo \u2026 the only way this works is if the Biden administration is charged too,\u201d Jenks told the Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>Jenks alleged that the failure of Biden\u2019s border policies is causing Democrats to panic and search for an attention-grabbing method by which they can change the subject.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no question that the Democrats are desperately trying to avoid acknowledging that by their own policies they have created this border chaos,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Costello, the attorney for Giuliani and Bannon echoed the sentiment from Jenks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe hypocrisy is manifest because Joe Biden has been doing exactly the same thing. I live in New York and he\u2019s been flying in planes of people who have illegally crossed over the borders to White Plains airport, and they\u2019ve caught him on videotape,\u201d Costello told The Epoch Times, citing media reports of secretly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kIqC5T4GY1M\">recorded<\/a> video of the arrival of a flight.<\/p>\n<p>According to Costello, there is an important difference between what DeSantis is doing and what Biden is doing.<\/p>\n<p>On the one hand, Biden is attempting to hide the extent of illegal immigration in America.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, \u201cthe whole purpose of what Florida Gov. DeSantis was doing was to bring to the attention of the so-called liberal population who says we should welcome everybody even though they are illegal aliens and haven\u2019t been vetted for anything\u201d and let them get a taste of what citizens on the southern border are dealing with, said Costello.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYet, when they\u2019re on somebody else\u2019s doorstep, it\u2019s different than when they\u2019re on your doorstep. And boy did it change things in Martha\u2019s Vineyard. Those [illegal immigrants] were there less than 24 hours, and they got the National Guard to escort them to an Army or an Air Force Base,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>To Michael, the most important difference between Biden and DeSantis on this issue is that DeSantis is trying to prevent the harm associated with illegal immigration.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, that Biden\u2019s policies are making matters worse because he won\u2019t \u201cenforce the laws that we already have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow is DeSantis the criminal here?\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo parent should have to go through what we\u2019ve been through,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House for comment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-john-ransom\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/05\/04\/WEB_JohnRansom.jpg\" alt=\"John Ransom\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>John Ransom is a freelance reporter covering U.S. news for The Epoch Times with offices in Washington, D.C., and Asia.\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News AnalysisConservative advocates and observers are calling out Democrat attempts to criminally investigate the immigration policies that Florida\u2019s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is following by transporting migrants to so-called sanctuary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1664401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1664397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1664397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1664397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1664401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1664397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1664397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1664397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}