Ron DeSantis Shuts Reporter Down Over His Soft Illegal Alien Language [WATCH]

Ron DeSantis responded to a reporter’s questions about immigration terminology and the potential economic impact of enforcement actions on Florida industries, rejecting the use of softened language and defending existing state policies.

The exchange began when the reporter asked about the presence of large numbers of immigrants working in key sectors of Florida’s economy.

“I just have four questions. One, Florida is home to hundreds of 1000s of undocumented immigrants who are working in areas…” the reporter said.

DeSantis interrupted to challenge the terminology used in the question, pointing to statutory language and arguing that alternative phrasing obscures the legal reality.

“Well, you know just to be so… The federal government has made clear that the statutory term, it’s not undocumented. They’re illegal aliens. That’s the statutory term. That’s, that’s what it is. And I think it’s to try to water down. I mean, like undocumented, it’s like, if I get in my car and I forget my wallet, okay, I don’t have my document on me, like my driver’s license, but, I mean, I still have a right to drive. I just made, have made a mistake. The this is intentional, to come in illegally. It’s not just a question of missing a document. It’s a question of, you know, you violated the law that were very clear and knowingly and with the help of the cartels in many cases,” DeSantis said.

The reporter then rephrased the question, acknowledging the governor’s preferred terminology and asking about the consequences of enforcement actions on specific industries.

“I’ll rephrase that. Florida is home to, is home to hundreds of 1000s of illegal immigrants, who are illegal aliens, if they want to call it, who are working in areas of agriculture, farming, construction, hospitality. I’m just wondering, once we start to see, you know, the significant roundups of these people, is there a plan in place to help those industries, to prevent those industries from experiencing true hard hardship, financial hardship,” the reporter said.

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DeSantis responded by pointing to past debates surrounding immigration enforcement and employment verification requirements, saying similar concerns were raised previously when Florida implemented related policies.

“So here’s what I’d say, they made the same arguments on 23 when we did our immigration (inaudible), we did e verify when you now any of those industries, when they hire new people, they’ve got to verify their immigration status, otherwise they can’t work. And people said you are not going to be able to,” DeSantis said.

WATCH:

🚨 BOOM! DeSantis SLAPS DOWN reporter trying to downplay illegal aliens

“Florida has hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants-”

GOV. RON DESANTIS: -The statutory term, per the Trump administration, is ILLEGAL alien. Undocumented is like – if I forget my wallet when I go… pic.twitter.com/1sTi7s7qDv

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 22, 2025