Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) generated applause during a Tuesday press conference after stating the illegal aliens accused of looting in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian should be “sent back to their home country.”
“We’ve been very clear that in situations like this, we’re not going to let bad actors exploit them,” DeSantis said during a Tuesday press conference, providing an update on hurricane relief efforts.
“That means law and order will be enforced. That means individual Floridians’ right to defend themselves and their homes will be honored,” he said, mentioning the looters who were arrested on “charges of burglary of an unoccupied structure during a state of emergency.”
“And we’ve had four looters that were arrested I guess a couple of days ago, and they need to be brought to justice and we’re not going to tolerate it,” DeSantis said.
“But you know, three of the four are illegal aliens. And so these are people that are foreigners, they’re illegally in our country. And not only that, they try to elude and ransack after in the aftermath of a natural disaster,” he continued.
“I mean, they should be prosecuted, but they need to be sent back to their home country. They should not be here at all,” the governor added, generating applause.
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Indeed, Lee County police arrested Omar Mejia Ortiz, 33, Valerie Celeste Salcedo Mena, 26, Brandon Mauricio Araya, 20, and Steve Eduardo Sanchez Araya, 20, last week.
According to reports, three were also charged with grand larceny, and another with a petty larceny charge as Florida continues to recover from the massive Category 4 storm, which slammed its west coast last week:
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno has emphasized DeSantis’s declaration Florida is a “law and order” state as well.
“I know we had a report of one incident where someone tried to loot into a gas station. I don’t know the details, but it’s infuriating and we’re not gonna allow it,” he said, outlining, “We are a great law and order state.”
“We need to access the people that need to be helped, their life and safety is most important. But my message is very clear to those who think they’re gonna loot. Go somewhere else, leave the state, don’t do that in here, not in Lee County,” he added.