Gov. Ron DeSantis ties 'illegal immigration' crackdown to stabbing death in Jacksonville

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday he wants new state laws protecting Florida from the "Biden border crisis" that he directly tied to the stabbing death of a Jacksonville resident in a case where authorities charged a Honduran man who posed as a 17-year-old under a fake name.

DeSantis made the link to that homicide case during a news conference at Jacksonville International Airport while saying President Joe Biden's immigration policies have left Florida exposed to people arriving from other countries without state and local officials knowing who they are.

U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, who has criticized federal flights into Jacksonville of unaccompanied minors who crossed the border, joined DeSantis in blasting the Biden administration over immigration.

More: DeSantis puts Jacksonville homicide suspect at center of immigration debate

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"The Biden-Harris administration has blood on their hands," he said, referring to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

He said the administration's policies "are allowing gang members and criminal aliens to come across our borders and, as we saw right here in Jacksonville, kill our citizens."

The Southern Poverty Law Center quickly opposed DeSantis's proposals, saying he is "yet again targeting immigrant communities across Florida, this time using children as pawns to further his anti-immigrant and xenophobic agenda."

DeSantis rolled out a series of legislative proposals that he said would deter businesses and organizations from working with the federal government on what DeSantis called "illegal immigration" by people crossing the southern border.

"These reforms hopefully will protect Florida," he said. "They'll disincentive folks from wanting to facilitate these policies and then everybody will be better off as a result."

In addition to seeking new laws when the Legislature convenes in January, DeSantis announced the state Department of Children and Families published an emergency rule that would prevent licensing of facilities that house unaccompanied minors unless the state and federal government enter into a "cooperative agreement."

Anne Janet Hernandez Anderson, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said housing children in Florida facilities "is in no way creating any sort of emergency for the state" and the rule is an attempt to "skirt legal requirements" for creating state regulations.

She said DeSantis's proposals would harm "all unaccompanied minors, including infants and young children, many of whom are escaping trauma, violence, and persecution."

Federal law requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide care for unaccompanied children who cross the border when there is no parent or legal guardian who can do so. The law applies to children under the age of 18.

In some cases, that resettlement of unaccompanied children involves moving them on flights to states around the country. Jacksonville Aviation Airport CEO Mark VanLoh said his agency first became aware of such flights into Jacksonville in June when a plane was parked overnight on a "remote cargo apron" for 10 hours with children and chaperones on board while the flight crew was at hotels.

DeSantis said Nov. 4 during a stop at Cecil Commerce Center in Jacksonville that he would try to stop such flights coming into Florida. He said Friday that no flights have occurred since then.

DeSantis raised the possibility at the November news conference that a man arrested in the stabbing death of a Jacksonville resident had arrived in Jacksonville on one of those flights.

DeSantis and Florida Public Safety Czar Larry Keefe said Friday that the federal government provided the air travel for the flight to Jacksonville.

"The Biden administration flew him to Jacksonville at taxpayer expense," Keefe said. "He is now charged with murder for stabbing and killing a Jacksonville man."

Honduran indicted on first-degree murder for Jacksonville stabbing

Police found 46-year-old Francisco Javier Cuellar dead in a Lone Star Road house just before midnight on Oct. 6 and arrested a man who was found covered in blood wandering near the scene.

Police initially identified the suspect as 17-year-old Reynel Alexander Hernandez but later rebooked him as 23-year-old Yery Noel Medina Ulloa. Police said he had faked his name and age.

Medina Ulloa pleaded not guilty Nov. 30 after a grand jury indicted him on charges of first-degree murder and evidence tampering.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, who joined DeSantis at the news conference, said Cuellar was a father of four who cared about "any child in need" and agreed to "take in an immigrant who claimed he was 17 years old."

"He gave him food, shelter and a job at a convenience store," Curry said. "But it was all a lie. He wasn't 17."

He said he wants more information about who is coming on flights into Jacksonville and how people onboard are vetted and screened. "This is not about vilification," Curry said. "It's about verification."

Sheriff Mike Williams likewise said it's a challenge for law enforcement when people arrive in Jacksonville and "we have nothing more to work with than the unknown."

He said after the news conference that Medina Ulloa absolutely flew to Jacksonville on a federally sponsored flight. He said Medina Ulloa "shared some information with us."

"We were able to pinpoint that obviously he didn't walk from Texas and we know he was picked up at the airport by the victim," Williams said.

The changes in state law sought by DeSantis would prohibit state and local agencies from contracting with any private entities that "knowingly or recklessly" help with the resettlement of "illegal aliens" in Florida, according to the governor's office.

State agencies would not be able to contract with companies that are "knowingly transporting illegal aliens" into Florida. Private companies that facilitate illegal immigration into Florida would pay the state for the costs that fall on the public from illegal immigration, according to the governor's office.

County jails and courts would get the immigration status of people when they are arrested and convicted. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement would post that information on its website.

DeSantis wants to add the state Department of Economic Opportunity as an enforcement agency for E-verify of eligibility to work in the United States. Also, the state would not provide any "discretionary benefits to illegal aliens."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Gov. DeSantis says 'Biden border crisis' requires new Florida laws