Even as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis tries to twist his policy to include a fictitious border crisis when his state only borders Georgia and Alabama, the state is suffering from an invasion of foreigners spreading potentially deadly meningitis, MSN reports.
In a transparent attempt to bolster his conservative bona fides by bashing immigrants before the 2024 primaries, DeSantis has convened a grand jury to investigate what he calls “immigration-related issues” like child sex trafficking; shockingly, he has not called Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz in as an expert witness. As mentioned, Florida does not border any foreign countries, so the real issue is the interstate transport of forced sex workers from other states, which tend to congregate in Florida when major conventions and events like the Super Bowl are in town, something some tourists link to Florida vacations and culture.
But Florida’s real immigration problem is more deadly and more imminent: thousands of invasive Giant African land snails have been found in Pasco County. Unlike with the coronavirus pandemic, the Florida Department of Agriculture has set up a quarantine zone around Pasco County and launched an eradication program.
The Giant African land snails, which can grow to be seven inches long, can devastate crops if left unchecked. The Giant African land snail is also a carrier of the meningitis virus, which causes swelling of the lining around the brain and nervous system in humans which can result in death.
Unlike a number of other invasive land and sea mollusks which were introduced into the United States carried aboard cargo ships or in the ballast tanks of ships, the Giant African land snail is typically smuggled into the US by people who wish to keep the large snail as a pet. After the novelty wears off, the humans then release the snails into the wild, where they breed and take over.