In order to address growing concerns at the southern border, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced that he would be sending law enforcement to help secure the border. In response, a number of Texas lawmakers have championed the move, but Democrats back home are warning that this is a grave decision to make. Florida Senator Lauren Book (D) issued a letter to Governor DeSantis, calling for him to retract his decision while also calling for him to respond to gun-related violence in the Sunshine State.
On Twitter, the Florida Senate Democrats account shared the letter that Senator Book wrote, arguing that “as gun-related crime rises in FL,” Senator Book and Democrats are calling for the Governor “to halt shipping state’s law enforcement officers to border.” Instead, the lawmaker asks for DeSantis to redirect his focus because “Florida kids are dying in the streets, and it is not at the hands of immigrants crossing the border.”
As gun-related crime rises in FL, @Book4Senate @FLSenateDems call on @GovRonDeSantis to halt shipping state’s law enforcement officers to border. “Florida kids are dying in the streets, and it is not at the hands of immigrants crossing the border.” pic.twitter.com/QzgWdzCTg5
— FL Senate Dems (@FLSenateDems) June 17, 2021
“Your choice to divert Florida officers away from their local communities where they are desperately needed will handicap efforts to combat this critical and urgent public safety issue,” Book detailed, adding that “Sheriff’s deputies, highway patrol, the Fish and Wildlife Commission, and FDLE are all critical components in stemming the rising numbers of gun-related crime in our state, without which Floridians have diminished protection.”
Book also argued that the federal government has dispersed the resources needed to properly respond to any concerns.
“There. Is no need for you to sacrifice. The safety of our state for what appears to be political posturing,” she noted, saying that “the State of Florida… cannot afford to lose much-needed law enforcement personnel to bolster what many see as little more than a political stunt.”
When he initially made the announcement, Governor DeSantis shared that “America’s border security crisis impacts every state and every American,” so he wanted to make sure that the Sunshine state was “answering the call.”
Sens. Gary Farmer, Lori Berman, Janet Cruz, Randolph Bracy, Aubrey Gibson, and Loranne Ausley, all signed the letter with Book.
