Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been granted power to relocate undocumented migrants anywhere in the US under a bill passed by the state legislature.
The measure was approved by both Republican-controlled chambers along party lines and now heads to Mr DeSantis’ desk for his signature.
The Florida governor flew migrants from Texas to Massachusetts last year, prompting a lawsuit.
The Republican is a hotly tipped White House contender for 2024.
Also on Friday, Florida lawmakers gave Mr DeSantis effective control of the board that oversees development in and around Disney’s state theme parks, raising the stakes in his battle with the entertainment conglomerate, which he has labelled “woke”.
The bill authorises the governor to appoint five supervisors to run an oversight board of the area surrounding the Walt Disney World resort. The board has the power to delay or block development plans by Disney, such as to build a new theme park, hotel or road, on the 25,000 acres.
“There’s a new sheriff in town,” Mr DeSantis said earlier this week as he claimed victory in his spat with the state’s biggest private employer.
Last year, Mr DeSantis flew undocumented migrants on two planes from Texas to the elite, predominantly liberal enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Democrats and their allies argued the flights were a political stunt that amounted to human-trafficking.
But Republican lawmakers argued in Tallahassee during Thursday’s floor debate on the new Unauthorized Alien Transport Program that it was “humanitarian” to offer a “free, chartered flight” for migrants who wanted to go elsewhere in the US.
Texas and Arizona have also been transporting undocumented migrants by bus to Democratic-run cities such as Chicago and New York, and, Washington DC.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, originally welcomed the migrants, but last July described them as a “real burden” on public services.
Officials in the city have recently bought bus tickets to Canada for migrants.
In fiscal year 2022 the number of undocumented immigrant crossings at the south-west US border topped 2.76 million, breaking the previous annual record by more than one million, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
