JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis made a stop at Miller Electric Company on Jacksonville's Southside this morning.
He signed a bill into law that will make the penalties for illegal immigration harsher.
The governor said these new restrictions are as strict as the state can go. He said he wishes states had even more authority to address illegal immigration and called this bill the strongest anti-illegal immigration bill in the nation.
In setting up the bill, he mentioned the strike force the state has been busy along I-10 in the panhandle catching human and drug traffickers, and mentioned they've also caught more than 300 vessels since August with people trying to come to Florida's shores.
The bill will make it a second degree felony for bringing more than five people to the country illegally - punishing them with up to 15 years in prison.
The bill also sends $12 million to keep up the state's relocation program to send people living here illegally to sanctuary cities - the same program that was in the national headlines in September when 50 people were flown to Martha's Vineyard.
It will also require businesses to use the E-verify system to check the employment eligibility of their employees -something the CEO at Miller Electric, Henry Brown, says they've been doing since 2008.
"We want businesses to hire citizens and legal immigrants. We want them to follow the law and not do illegal immigrants. That's not that difficult to do. Once we get that as a norm in our society, I think we'll be a lot better off," DeSantis says.