Watch: DeSantis Explodes Over Double Standard Shielding Blue-State Immigration Defiance

According to Breitbart, host Mark Levin opened the segment by blasting Democrat-run jurisdictions that advertise themselves as sanctuaries for illegal immigrants, despite clear constitutional limits on such defiance. Governor DeSantis, I look at these blue cities and blue states, first of all, they claim to be sanctuary, which they cant do under the Constitution, Levin said, drawing a historical parallel to the Confederacy.

They couldnt do it during the Confederacy, the Democrats, and theyre doing it again, trying to pretend that theyre not part of the Republic and yet they are. I hear these mayors and these governors egging on people in ways that stokes the flames, that helps them become violent, and so forth and so on, and also, we have these paid actors and these front organizations that, you know, they show up their rent-a-mobs, and they show up, too, and so forth.

He contrasted that chaos with Floridas approach, telling DeSantis, I dont see a lot of that in your state, before asking how Florida coordinates with federal authorities to remove dangerous criminals rather than shield them.

Levin pressed the point that Floridas cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement stands in stark contrast to Democrat jurisdictions that, in his words, are working with the enemies of society.

So, what do you do? You work with ICE, you work with Immigration, you coordinate, you let them know when the bad guys are getting out of jail, whereas the Democrats are working with the enemies of society, right? he asked, framing the debate as one between law and order on the one hand and ideological lawlessness on the other. DeSantis responded by affirming that Florida embraces federal enforcement tools that many blue states reject for political reasons.

DeSantis replied, Well, absolutely, we do all of those things, Mark. Were safer as a result of it. And this Immigration issue is very important. Public safety is very important. But I would argue its even larger than that. This is a constitutional issue. He accused the Biden administration of abandoning its basic duty to enforce the law, saying, We had an administration under Joe Biden that basically, the President violated his oath to take care that the laws are faithfully executed with respect to immigration, he opened the border, interior enforcement collapsed. President Trump ran in large part on securing the border and making sure immigration laws were enforced to be able to protect the public.

From DeSantiss perspective, states like Florida that cooperate with federal agents are not only defending their own citizens but also honoring the outcome of the last presidential election. So, what were doing by cooperating is were helping not only to make sure illegal aliens are removed, our taxpayers are protected, but that the peoples will in that election of 2024 is being carried out, he continued, tying immigration enforcement directly to democratic accountability.

By contrast, he argued, What theyre doing in the blue states is they lost the election, and they want to nullify the faithful application of Immigration law, and it goes much beyond just protesting or not liking it, they are actively encouraging people to take matters into their own hands, and they are putting the people who are serving in federal law enforcement at risk as a result.

DeSantis closed by underscoring what many conservatives see as a double standard in how the federal government and media treat left-wing defiance versus right-leaning resistance. There is no way that if the shoe were on the other foot, red states would be able to get away with what these blue states are doing right now, DeSantis added, suggesting that Republican-led states would face swift punishment for anything resembling the current blue-state obstruction.

His remarks reflect a broader conservative concern that immigration policy has been hijacked by progressive ideology at the expense of constitutional order, public safety, and the rule of law.