Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is seating a grand jury to investigate human smuggling in Florida, which will promote Homeland Security.
According to court documents, the Florida Supreme Court maintained DeSantis alleged there was sufficient need to create a statewide grand jury to investigate crimes, issue indictments, present facts and perform other functions of a grand jury regarding human trafficking and human smuggling.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to traffickers and smugglers exploiting the border crisis to subject children to extremely dangerous conditions,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a news release. “I am grateful that Governor DeSantis has asked the Florida Supreme Court to have my statewide prosecutor impanel a grand jury to uncover the facts surrounding those in Florida who may be involved.”
The grand jury will be seated for a year, according to CBS News, serving in the 10th judicial circuit, which includes, Highlands, Hardee and Polk counties. The CBS News report noted 10th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Ellen Masters will be on the bench for the grand jury, which will have statewide jurisdiction.
Moreover, Law.com reported the grand jury also will investigate the parents, guardians and other family members of unaccompanied alien minors who possibly could be involved with criminal elements to smuggle or endanger youth. The website noted the move to seat a grand jury is rare and demonstrate the governor’s commitment to unraveling the issues surrounding illegal immigration.
Fox News also reported DeSantis noted the grand jury was essential to “examine international human smuggling networks that bring illegal aliens across the southern border and ultimately to states like Florida."
Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez also told Fox News efforts that include having a grand jury seated to look at the issue will help the state “take the next step investigating the criminal enterprises that are taking hold and child trafficking, human smuggling, drug smuggling.”
According to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, during the last 12 months of the Biden administration, the U.S. Border Patrol had 1,536,899 land border encounters along the southern border, up more than 200% since the end of the Trump administration.
The problem isn’t limited to the Sunshine State, Texas Public Policy Foundation Policy Scholar Selene Rodriguez told the Austin Journal human smuggling is just the first step in the chain of human trafficking.
“Human smuggling is the precursor of human trafficking,” Rodriguez said, according to Austin Journal. “People who conspire with human smugglers to illegally enter the United States typically incur thousands of dollars of debt to make the trip. After entering the country illegally, these same people are often forced to pay off that debt through forced labor and sexual exploitation, which is the essence of the modern-day slavery that is human trafficking.”
