Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) inked legislation, on Wednesday, to expand a contentious state program that relocates migrants from anywhere in the country to Democratic-led towns.

After Florida officials were accused of misleading migrants and proposing false incentives, the program, which now receives an additional $10 million in funding, drew a considerable reaction.

DeSantis and other Republicans have maintained that the program is an effective means of dealing with a surge in migration to the US-Mexico border that has allegedly overburdened southern states, but immigration advocates say the practice is demeaning and utilizes people as political pawns.

The governor came under fire after he utilized state funds to fly migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, despite the fact that the program only provided funds to move migrants within Florida.

After signing the bill into law, DeSantis tweeted: "Florida is using all tools available to protect our citizens from Biden's open border policies." 

Florida is using all tools available to protect our citizens from Biden's open border policies.

I am glad to have signed legislation to continue the program of transporting illegal aliens to sanctuary jurisdictions. I thank the legislature for maintaining this valuable tool. pic.twitter.com/Nrkf9tm2XQ

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 15, 2023

"I thank the legislature for maintaining this valuable tool," he further added.

It is worth noting that several legal challenges have already been filed against the program.

One complaint questions the legislation's validity, pointing out that the language used in the inaugural program's budget stipulates that the funds will be used to transport migrants out of Florida, not necessarily Texas.

Undocumented migrants who were flown to Martha's Vineyard launched a class action lawsuit against DeSantis and other Florida officials.

Both a federal inspector and the District of Columbia attorney general have begun inquiries into the transfers.

Migrants as 'political pawns'

The fiscal year 2022 recorded 1.8 million arrests of migrants by US border agents. Since the start of Joe Biden's term in office, more than one million migrants have entered the US, per figures cited by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The process goes as follows: after migrants cross the US-Mexico border, a CBP facility hosts them before being released by border officials and are served documents to appear in court, after which they are no longer in federal custody and are free to travel across the country, but many remain in waiting months for case hearings due to legal and procedural backlogs. 

US CBP agents are notorious for the abuse and mistreatment of both migrants and the procedures of keeping them safe, as they flee dangerous regions to find security. Human Rights Watch found shocking cases of sexual and physical abuse of asylum seekers at the southern US border by federal authorities, following a years-long struggle to extract evidence from the Department of Homeland Security. The abuses range from juvenile sexual abuse to forced starvation, rape threats, and harsh incarceration circumstances.

Furthermore, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador cautioned in June that the US is struggling to manage its southern border, accusing it of "lack of control" after more than 50 immigrants were killed while being smuggled into the country.

The grim discovery was one of the worst disasters involving migrants in recent years, and it occurred five years after a similar deadly incident in the same central Texas city, just hours from the Mexican border.

Republicans have pointed fingers at Joe Biden for his adamancy to “undo everything former President Donald Trump had done” leading to the chaos at the southern border, condemning Biden's “open border policies” and the diminishing of a number of restrictive measures against illegal migrants set in place by the former president, Donald Trump. 

Read next: "I was screaming and he was smiling": DeSantis ran Guantanamo torture