25 AUG 2022

Round Up: Led by Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott, Florida GOP Politicians Represent an Extreme, Dangerous Immigration Agenda 

New battleground poll finds Republican attacks have not decreased voter support for pro-immigrant solutions

WASHINGTON, DC -​​ The Florida primary elections results are in and it’s clear that Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott are setting the tone for GOP candidates on the ballot: run on ending DACA, weaponize immigration to scare voters and embrace inhumane Trump-era policies to score political points with the fringe right. 

One look at the social media accounts, advertisements and statements of Republicans down the ballot in Florida shows that they have all fallen in line with the strategy to peddle dangerous and divisive policies that echo cruel, extreme and failed Trump policies that target immigrant children and communities. In fact, Republicans running for office across the country have already deployed more than 850 anti-immigrant ads— 54 ads were by Florida GOP candidates.

Despite GOP attacks on immigrant communities, a new poll from the Immigration Hub shows that voters, including Latino voters in key battleground states such as Florida are still (70%) strongly in support of pro-immigrant solutions, including protecting our nation’s Dreamers, farm workers, TPS holders and undocumented immigrants. By similar strong margins, battleground voters oppose extreme anti-immigrant positions being championed by GOP candidates. 

“As Republican candidates across the country and especially in Florida continue to advance an extreme agenda that includes ending DACA and echoing white nationalist talking points, a new poll reveals they are widely out of step with the majority of voters, especially Latino voters, an integral voting bloc in the Sunshine state. Latino voters overwhelmingly want Congress to protect Dreamers and reject immigration xenophobia, which they have seen first hand encourages violence that puts real lives at risk. Meanwhile, Charlie Crist has modeled how to call out bogus GOP attacks and lean in on common sense measures to fix our broken immigration system. This includes ensuring Florida’s Dreamers, farm workers and TPS holders can contribute more fully to their communities,” said Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub. “This November, the contrast between the two parties could not be clearer and Democrats in this state have an opportunity to hold the GOP accountable for their anti-immigrant record. While Republicans embrace hateful rhetoric, Democrats must show their commitment to protect Dreamers and create a path to legal status for farmworkers and other immigrant workers who are essential to our nation’s economy.”

GOP’S REAL ANTI-IMMIGRANT RECORD: 

Ron DeSantis Targets DACA, Unaccompanied Children, and Terrorizes Immigrant Communities

  • Ron DeSantis (R-FL)’s agenda is to put Dreamers on a path to deportation. While in Congress, DeSantis essentially said he supported deporting Dreamers and now he continues to tweet that he wants to see DACA “discontinu[ed].”

  • Desantis could not be more diametrically opposed to his Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist. DeSantis’ primary objective is to terrorize immigrant communities under his leadership. In the last four years, he signed S.B. 1808— broadening the state’s sanctuary cities ban—, signed an egregious executive order undermining family reunification and terminating the foster care program for unaccompanied minors, and issued an executive order to audit and collect data on how much hospitals are spending on undocumented people— attacking and intimidating health care providers.  

  • DeSantis has distinguished himself as further to the right of the most anti-immigrant Republican governors railing against governors Abbott (R-TX) and Ducey (R-AZ) time and again for busing migrants to the nation’s capital, instead of Mexico. In response to the termination of Title 42— a public health policy weaponized by Stephen Miller and Trump to shut the border down— he vowed to send immigrants 'dumped' in Florida to Biden's home state of Delaware and other ‘sanctuary states.’ DeSantis’ Lt. Governor Jeanette Nuñez recently confirmed on Spanish radio that they plan to use tax dollars to bus immigrants, including Cuban immigrants to Delaware. DeSantis is quickly becoming the poster boy for anti-immigrant policies with policies and comments that go a step further than his party’s leaders.

Rick Scott’s GOP Immigration Plan: Build Trump’s Border Wall, Double Down on Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric, End DACA

Marco Rubio Embraces the Radical Right 

  • Rubio's first ad was followed by a barrage of tweets directed at Val Demings, littered with lies about open border policies, the invasion of ‘illegal immigrants,’ and supporting amnesty for ‘criminals and gang members.’ Rubio has a lot to say about the Biden administration’s attempts to manage the border, blaming ‘radical left-wing activists’ as he worked to block the president from using resources to manage the border. He cannot have it both ways, claiming ‘it will be too late [for Democrats] to fix’ the border crisis as he laughs at them for obstructing the administration. Let’s not forget that Rubio has repeatedly called for an end to DACA— a solution he once championed.  

Floridian Republican Candidates Cast Immigrants As Criminals and Want to Finish Trump’s Job

  • Florida Republican candidates have one objective: finish Trump’s job. Carlos Gimenez (FL-26) is blaming President Biden even though he is working to undo all the harm caused by Trump’s actions. In an ad, he claimed the border is “overrun with criminals, drugs and illegal immigrants,” falsely claiming the Biden Administration ‘won’t do a single thing about it.’ And Anthony Sabatini (FL-7) is ready to stop all immigration, repeatedly demanding a “100% legal immigration moratorium’ with ‘no exceptions.’ He does not mince words: He wants to ‘deport every illegal alien. Gimenez and Sabatini have both attacked Dreamers, even calling for their deportation. In Florida 13th’s district, Anna Luna has made ending DACA and building Trump’s wall a centerpiece of her campaign. 

Bottom line: Florida GOP candidates, led by Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio and NRSC Chairman Rick Scott, have made the calculation that a xenophobic immigration message will play well with battleground voters. The problem for them is that this is not true. The reality is that fair and humane immigration solutions are widely popular with the American public. A new Immigration Hub poll, surveying battleground voters including Floridians, reveals that the majority of the American electorate (70%) support pro-immigrant policies such as citizenship for undocumented immigrants. 

Warning Signs for Democrats: While the electorate largely disagrees with Republicans' propaganda on immigration, the electorate hears more Republicans on the issue. But Immigration Hub’s recent poll reveals that if Democrats engage aggressively and effectively on the immigration issue— including attacking Republican vulnerabilities— it can yield important benefits for Democrats in races where victories will be decided by small margins.

###

The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.