Rep. Byron Donalds told Newsmax on Tuesday that legal challenges to Florida's decision to turn its truck weigh stations into immigration crackdowns could actually benefit his state by highlighting places like California that are abusing federal law with their sanctuary jurisdictions.
The Florida Republican appeared on Newsmax's "Wake Up America" and praised his state's leadership for taking action after an illegal alien truck driver who received his license in California made an illegal U-turn that killed three people in Florida. The driver admitted that he could not read the road signs and did not know what a no U-turn sign looked like.
Donalds said that Florida turning its truck weigh stations into immigration crackdowns, where it will check the citizenship of the drivers and their ability to speak English and read road signs, is critical for making the state safe for everyone on the streets.
The congressman stressed that "this is about safety for all of the citizens of Florida ... plus all of the tourists that are in our state."
He added that "if you have a state like California that is going to issues these licenses, illegally I might add ... then if they are going to do that ... then Florida has the responsibility to do everything it can to protect the citizens and people who visit the state of Florida."
Asked about Florida's action potentially being struck down by a judge, Donalds said that "if there is a legal challenge, we will see what happens, we will face that head on, but that actually gives us an ability to really speak to the core issue, and that is sanctuary jurisdictions in the United States that are flouting federal immigration law and federal law overall."
Donalds added that "you are always concerned about some federal judge, but we have to do what's right ... Florida is taking a stand against this and they're doing the right thing."
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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