Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis is voicing frustration after a report that the White House is considering imposing domestic travel restrictions on states like Florida.
MIAMI (KSNT) — Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis is voicing frustration after reports that the White House is considering imposing domestic travel restrictions on states like his.
The Miami Herald reports that the restrictions are meant to stop the spread of COVID-19 in states where there is a significant surge in cases, including Florida and California. While Florida currently leads the country in known cases of the U.K. B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19, DeSantis says that hospitalizations and the overall case rate are down.
I think it is an absurd report that they would be doing that. I think it would unconstitutional, it would be unwise, and it would be unjust. If you think about it, restricting the right of Americans to travel freely throughout our country while allowing illegal aliens to pour across the Southern border unmolested, would be a ridiculous but very damaging farce. So we will oppose it 100 percent. It would not be based in science, it would purely be a political attack against the people of Florida.
Florida Governor Ron Desantis
According to John Hopkins University, Florida's percent positive is 8.6%, which ranks 28th out of 50 states. They are 16th in the nation for vaccine distribution, according to the CDC.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded to the governor's comments, saying, "Well, I've seen those reports. We are always considering what steps are necessary to keep the American people safe, but we are not currently in the process of — no decisions have been made around additional public health measures that would delay or would change, I should say, domestic travel considerations."
Many states, including Florida, imposed their own travel restrictions over the course of the pandemic. DeSantis says that federal restrictions would be unfair, especially for states dependent on tourism.
"We will not back down. And if anyone tries to harm Floridians or target us, we will respond very swiftly," said DeSantis.
