Another lawsuit for DeSantis for taking migrants to Martha's Vineyard 1:41
(CNN) --
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill Wednesday that expands the state's controversial immigrant transportation program.
"Florida is using every tool available to protect our citizens from Biden's open border policies," DeSantis wrote on Twitter.
“I am pleased to have signed legislation to continue the program of transporting illegal aliens to sanctuary jurisdictions.
I thank the legislature for maintaining this valuable tool,” added the governor.
DeSantis planned to transport "100 or more" immigrants to Delaware and Illinois, according to documents obtained by CNN
The move allows the DeSantis administration to pick up the program where it left off last year, when the Republican sent two planes of immigrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The action sparked multiple lawsuits and questions about whether the DeSantis administration had violated state law by detaining immigrants in Texas.
The budget law that created the $12 million program specified that the money was set aside to relocate "unauthorized aliens from this state."
Lawmakers voted last week in a partisan fashion to remove the restriction on the location of immigrants.
The measure passed by a Republican-controlled legislature also turned program management from the Florida Department of Transportation to the Florida Department of Emergency Management, a measure that would allow the DeSantis administration to award millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to facilitate the immigrant transportation.
The bill went into effect immediately after DeSantis signed it.
Under the measure, $10 million is set aside to fund the program through June.
DeSantis in his budget proposal allocated another $12 million to continue the program.
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Florida Ron DeSantis