Screenshot: Fox News
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is doubling down on his stance against illegal immigration, announcing plans to deport 10,000 illegal aliens to El Salvador within 72 hours if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants approval.
In an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, DeSantis detailed his state’s unprecedented efforts to curb illegal immigration and called for federal support to escalate deportations.
DeSantis revealed that Florida’s Operation Tidal Wave has already resulted in over 800 arrests of illegal aliens, with more expected as the operation progresses.
“I can set up, at a moment’s notice—within 72 hours—10,000 beds for illegals so they can be processed and deported,” DeSantis told Ingraham. “We can run flights to El Salvador, wherever they need to go. We’re doing more than any other state—but we could do a lot more. We’re just waiting on DHS approval.”
The comments came during a discussion of Operation Tidal Wave, a multi-agency crackdown initiated by DeSantis that has already led to the arrest of over 800 illegal aliens, with more expected. But the governor made clear: this isn’t even scratching the surface.
“And the numbers, I think, are going to end up being much higher than 800. We’re going to have an update on that tomorrow. Those are the types of numbers you need to really be able to put a dent in what Biden did,” he said.
“I mean, Biden let in millions and millions, and there were already millions and millions of illegal aliens. You’ve got to get those numbers up. So, we’re proud of doing that. We’re the only state that’s doing it at that level. However, we’re ready to do more. We want DHS to approve some of our plans. We have the best emergency response and problem-solving units in the country.”
Florida, unlike blue sanctuary states, banned sanctuary cities and has aligned its state and local law enforcement agencies to work hand-in-hand with federal immigration authorities—at least under the Trump administration.
But under Biden? DeSantis says ICE stopped showing up. State troopers would pull over an illegal alien for drunk driving and get ghosted by federal agents.
“When Biden was president, if our highway patrol pulled over an illegal for driving drunk, they would call ICE. ICE wouldn’t come get them, and then we weren’t allowed to do anything beyond that in terms of immigration enforcement. Now we’re deputies under President Trump’s administration. Our guys can just take them and get them into processing for deportation,” DeSantis said.
Still, even with this progress, DeSantis says his state is being held back.
Ingraham:
I’m confused. What can’t you do specifically?
Ron DeSantis:
Well, if we’re going to launch a unilateral operation, we would need DHS’s blessing. I mean, we will go in—we won’t even need DHS to necessarily be there—we will go in and find tens of thousands of illegals in Florida who are already on deportation orders.
You hear all this about due process—these people have already been processed and have been ordered to be removed. We can go in and get those. What we can do is provide more manpower, more space, and we even have the ability to process. But we need that to be blessed, and we need that to be in tandem. If we can get that done, I think those numbers—800 to 1,000 in a sweep—will go up dramatically more in Florida.
And if red states—just the red states—did even a fraction of what we’re doing in Florida, you would see those numbers go up across the country in a way that would really be meaningful.
Ingraham:
Are you not getting your calls returned? I mean, you have a great relationship with all these guys—Kristi Noem, President Trump—so…
Ron DeSantis:
Well, I think it’s a couple of things. I mean, I think one is that Biden decimated the agency, so they’re really working to stand things back up. I do think they probably need Congress to provide more financial support.
I have personally talked to Tom Homan about our capabilities. We want to do more. We have put our National Guard in—they requested that—so we’ve got our National Guard helping them as well. Part of it is that they’ve got a lot of stuff they have to do, given what Biden left them.
But we’re ready. I know they’ve seen some of the plans that we’ve offered. We’re going to finish up this Tidal Wave and then hopefully take it to the next level after that.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis offers to fly illegal aliens to @NayibBukele‘s El Salvador, says he wants approval to round up “10,000” illegal aliens on moment’s notice.
“I can set up, at a moment’s notice within 72 hours, 10,000 beds for illegals so they can be… pic.twitter.com/QVS2Lv1uFD
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 1, 2025
The post DeSantis Offers to Fly Illegal Aliens to El Salvador — Says He’s Ready to Round Up 10,000 Within 72 Hours If DHS Approves Plan (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.