Florida's Latest News

Gov. DeSantis signs ban on public sleeping, homeless camps

To "combat homelessness" in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Wednesday a statewide ban against sleeping or camping in public. The new law, HB 1365, also promises the homeless greater access to services for issues such as substance abuse and mental health problems.

“We are going to protect and fight for our public spaces, our parks, our libraries, the sidewalks we walk down,” said the bill sponsor, Fleming Island Republican Rep. Sam Garrison. 

Beginning in 2025, residents and business owners may take legal action if a city fails to uphold the ban. The bill empowers them to sue local governments in violation. “You have to make sure that everything we do is geared toward quality of life and public safety,” said DeSantis at the bill signing in Miami Beach. “Those are non-negotiable.”

The state Department of Children and Families would oversee local governments that set up designated areas for the homeless to camp for up to a year under the new law, which takes effect Oct. 1. The encampments would be created if local homeless shelters reach maximum capacity, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

Flight evacuating Floridians from Haiti arrives in Sanford

A flight containing 14 Floridians leaving Haiti landed at Orlando Sanford International Airport on Wednesday night after several rescue missions failed to bring them back to the United States. 

The flight back to the Sunshine State included eight children and six adults. According to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, two of the 14 passengers have business visas that legally allow them to operate businesses in the state of Florida.

“It took about two and a half weeks, so the days were turning into weeks, the weeks were turning into months,” said Phillip Armand, a parent who anxiously waited for several days for his son to return from the Caribbean country.

Haiti has been in the midst of widespread gang violence for weeks, leading to the forced resignation of their prime minister last month. The chaos erupting out of the country prohibited rescue flights from leaving the country.

Florida Launches Hospital Patient Immigration Status Dashboard, Highlighting the Cost of Uncompensated Care for Illegal Immigrants.

The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) announces the launch of the Hospital Patient Immigration Status Dashboard which reports the total number of hospital admissions and emergency department visits reported based on a patient’s immigration status through the last two quarters of 2023 (June 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023).

“Governor DeSantis continues to put Floridians first with his commitment to fiscal responsibility and prioritization of the needs and care of citizens first,” said AHCA Secretary Jason Weida. 

The dashboard includes county level data information relating to the estimated cost of uncompensated care for patients who are not lawfully present in the United States. Highlights from the reported information include:

Based on admissions data collected for 2023, it is estimated that the total cost of care provided to illegal immigrants is greater than $566 million. Miami-Dade County had the highest estimated amount of expenses incurred on illegal alien hospital visits with $231.80 million. A total of 54,443 hospital admissions and emergency room visits by patients who were illegally in the country.

Trump eyes Sen. Marco Rubio as a potential VP pick

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is moving up the list of former President Donald Trump's potential vice presidential picks, according to six people familiar with the presumptive Republican nominee's search for a running mate.

Rubio is hardly alone in the field; the cast of hopefuls for the job is large enough to fill an entire season of "The Apprentice." Trump estimated the number at 15 in a interview March 13 with Newsmax, and one of the sources said Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., are among those in the mix.

"The list is long, and it's extremely early in any kind of process," a Trump adviser said. "No one has been directly reached out to yet, and I do not expect that for some time."

Two sources familiar with planning said there is a growing consensus around a June announcement of a vice presidential pick — at least a month before the convention — but there are no firm plans yet.