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DeSantis pledges Florida will use ‘every resource’ to end human trafficking

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged late Tuesday morning that his state would use “every resource at [its] disposal” to put human traffickers out of business and into prison.

“So, all in, human trafficking across this country is a $150 billion-dollar illegal enterprise. And, I'm here to say that Florida – we want to use every resource at our disposal to put human traffickers out of business and into jail,” he told a crowd at Broward County's Lighthouse Point.

The 's annual report from Oct. 2020 to Sept. 2021 said annual global profits for traffickers amount to that much.

DeSantis was there to sign related bills, including SB 7064 to combat the problem and support victims and SB 1690 to require hotels to follow current human trafficking laws and enhance protection for young children.

He also signed HB 1465 to strengthen penalties for criminals to prey upon these victims.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Family Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Photo by Rebecca S. Gratz for The via Getty Images)
 

Before detailing the legislation, the governor and rumored 2024 presidential contender swiped at the White House, telling attendees that Florida had been “kicking the rear end of the Biden administration” on border security, providing support to Texas. He noted that last year, 72% of all human trafficking victims were migrants.

“Biden's Border Crisis is exacerbating human trafficking across the nation – 72% of all human trafficking victims are illegal immigrants and 60% of unaccompanied alien children crossing the border were caught by cartels and exploited for drug trafficking, or worse,” he said in a related release.

The told Fox Digital on Wednesday that its report had indicated 23% of victims in federal human trafficking prosecutions were identified as foreign nationals.

DeSantis brought up a Florida grand jury report that accused the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement of “facilitating the forced migration, sale and abuse of foreign children.” He filed a petition last year for the Florida Supreme Court to “impanel a statewide grand jury to examine international human smuggling networks that bring aliens to the southern border, and ultimately to Florida.”

“Biden's dereliction of duty at the southern border is knowingly aiding and abetting trafficking and allowing horrific harm to happen to these children,” DeSantis said in a statement on after the event. “Florida will not sit idly by as the most vulnerable women and children are taken advantage of.”

After signing the bills, the governor took several questions from reporters.

Former President Donald Trump speaks
Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally on April 27, 2023, in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
 

DeSantis noted that former President Trump had not answered whether he would have signed a heartbeat bill into law.

Trump attacked DeSantis for his abortion stance just a day earlier, suggesting that the Sunshine State's six-week restriction is “too harsh.”

“He has to do what he has to do,” he reportedly told The Messenger on Monday. “If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people don't even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh.”

DeSantis was also asked what he would do, as president, regarding the conclusions made in a report from Special Counsel John Durham on the Trump-Russia investigation.

John durham special counsel
Special Counsel John Durham, who then-United States Attorney General William Barr appointed in 2019 after the release of the Mueller report to probe the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, arrives at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on May 17, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)
 

“Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report,” the report said.

DeSantis told the reporter that he had been one of the “maybe five or six members of Congress that said, ‘No. This is bogus and this is an abuse of power.'”

“And, I was right and my brethren were right,” he noted, calling it a “massive abuse of power” that was attempting to “kneecap” the administration.

He said seeing the lack of accountability and the abuse of power changed how he viewed “this whole apparatus,” noting that “nobody has really been held accountable.”

The governor said he would “clean house top to bottom in these agencies,” understanding that there will be a lot of people who wouldn't like him “holding the swamp accountable.”

Fox News' Brooke Singman, Adam Shaw and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional information.

Julia Musto is a reporter for Fox News and Fox Business Digital. 

 

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original location.

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PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.

 

EYES ON TRAFFICKING

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original online location.

ABOUT PBJ LEARNING

PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials online course is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.