Ronald Dion DeSantis is an American politician and attorney serving as the 46th governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Florida’s 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018.
“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis joined Texas Governor Greg Abbott in the racist political stunt of cruelly flying migrants and asylum seekers to other states, even lying to trick families onto the planes. Both men talk frequently about their faith.” 1
References:
- Wikipedia – Ron DeSantis
- Florida Governor
- Catholic Governors Turn Their Backs on Their Faith
“Three prominent, right-wing, Catholic governors — Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, and Doug Ducey of Arizona — have been making headlines for brazenly abusing migrants to score political points. And the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) hasn’t said a word about these shockingly cruel attacks on migrant families.
Last week, DeSantis tricked at least 50 asylum seekers into boarding a plane to the island of Martha’s Vineyard, MA — leading them to believe that the flight was actually to Boston and cruelly promising them shelter and assistance that didn’t exist. Abbott and Ducey have likewise bused thousands of migrants to northern cities without any plan in place to greet or care for them once they got there.
These relocation transports by MAGA governors aren’t without tragic — and racist — precedent. During the 1960s, southern segregationists orchestrated “Reverse Freedom Rides,” pushing hundreds of Black citizens to board one-way buses to northern cities and falsely promising them jobs and housing once they got there.
Catholic social teaching couldn’t be clearer on treating migrants with understanding and respect. The USCCB’s own website states that “we cannot excuse inhumane treatment of certain persons by claiming that their lack of legal status deprives them of rights given by the Creator.”” 2
- Faithful America, September 17, 2022 – Email Newsletter
- Faithful America, September 20, 2022 – Catholic bishops must take a stand against Abbott and DeSantis’s mistreatment of migrant families [Email Newsletter]
- Another Shameful Scar on Flordia’s Governor
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s top emergency management official confirmed Thursday that 800,000 to 1 million COVID test kits in the state’s stockpile recently expired without being used. At a Thursday news conference, Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, told reporters when asked about the state’s stockpile: “We had between 800,000 and a million test kits, Abbott rapid test kits, in our warehouse that did expire.”” 3
- NBC Miami, January 7, 2022 – Florida Gov. DeSantis Confirms Up to 1 Million COVID Tests Expired in State Stockpile – The expired tests had been first raised by Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat running against DeSantis
