Left-wing activist groups are at it again with another manufactured crisis.
They're trying to scare tourists away from Florida ahead of the World Cup.
And left-wing groups just pulled another travel warning stunt that Ron DeSantis demolished with one brutal fact.
Same playbook, different year
A coalition of left-wing activist groups rolled out their latest travel warning scheme targeting Florida this week.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition, ACLU of Florida, and American Friends Service Committee held a press conference warning tourists that Florida is supposedly "dangerous" for World Cup visitors.
Governor Ron DeSantis immediately called out the stunt on X, blasting the groups as left-wing activists pushing a political agenda rather than legitimate civil rights organizations.
DeSantis has seen this playbook before.
The NAACP tried the same stunt in 2023 warning Black Americans not to visit Florida.
Equality Florida issued a travel advisory for LGBTQ visitors that same year.
Every single time, Florida's tourism numbers proved the warnings were garbage.
"As Governor DeSantis announced last week, Florida is seeing record-breaking tourism," DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern stated.
"This is nothing more than a stunt."
Florida set a record with 37.9 million tourist visits in just the first quarter of 2023 alone.
The state has been number one for net in-migration every year under DeSantis.
"Claiming that Florida is unsafe is a total farce," DeSantis said when activists tried this before. "Our crime rate is at a 50-year low."
https://twitter.com/BryanDGriffin/status/2019819100126531808?s=20
Trump and DeSantis making Florida the safest state
The left-wing groups are mad because Florida is winning on immigration enforcement.
DeSantis signed legislation making Florida the first state where all law enforcement fully cooperates with ICE.
Trump praised Florida's "Operation Tidal Wave" which resulted in over 10,000 arrests in under eight months.
That's exactly what these activist groups can't stand.
They want open borders and unlimited illegal immigration while Florida is showing the rest of the country how to properly enforce immigration law.
The groups trotted out horror stories about tourists getting detained.
But they conveniently ignore that Florida is enforcing laws against people here illegally, not harassing legal tourists with proper documentation.
Miami will host seven World Cup matches at Hard Rock Stadium in June.
The White House created a FIFA task force led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to ensure the tournament's success.
Trump made clear his administration won't rule out any enforcement that makes Americans safer.
"The president has not ruled out anything that will make American citizens safer," Andrew Giuliani stated.
Left-wing groups coordinating with media to manufacture narratives
DeSantis nailed what's really happening with these bogus travel warnings.
"These left-wing groups have been doing it for many, many years," DeSantis said. "And they are colluding with legacy media to try to manufacture a narrative."
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2019767553791262910?s=20
Bryan Griffin, DeSantis's former press secretary, broke down the formula perfectly.
"Fake media narrative -> activist group stunt -> media coverage of the stunt at 100% intensity and 0% investigative curiosity," Griffin wrote.
Legacy media ran breathless coverage of the travel warning without questioning whether it had any merit whatsoever.
They ignored Florida's record tourism numbers and historic low crime rates.
"I would just say, as an American citizen, if you are uncritically accepting narratives spun by legacy media and left-wing groups, you're failing at your job of being a conscientious citizen," DeSantis stated.
The groups claimed tourists face "racial profiling" and "prolonged detention" but Florida is simply enforcing immigration law the way it should be enforced.
"We're the number one state for net in-migration and have been every year since I've been governor," DeSantis noted.
"We just capped the highest quarter for tourism in the history of the state of Florida."
Those numbers demolish the left-wing narrative completely.
Florida showing America how to handle immigration
Trump and DeSantis are proving you can have strong immigration enforcement and record tourism at the same time.
The World Cup will be perfectly safe for legal visitors who follow the rules.
Florida has a 50-year low crime rate precisely because leaders are tough on illegal immigration.
Compare that to Democrat-run cities awash in crime where prosecutors refuse to enforce laws.
"You look at cities like Baltimore and Chicago, you got kids more likely to get shot than to receive a first class education," DeSantis said. "Yet, I don't see the NAACP batting an eye about all the carnage that's happening in those areas."
The left-wing groups never warn people about dangerous Democrat cities where kids get shot walking to school.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2019767553791262910?s=20
They only target Republican-led states that are actually keeping people safe.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said fans "from all over the world will be welcome" at the World Cup.
Trump received FIFA's inaugural "Peace Prize" in December for his support of the tournament.
Legal tourists with proper visas and documentation will have a great time in Florida watching world-class soccer in state-of-the-art facilities.
Florida successfully hosts millions of tourists every year without incident.
This latest travel warning is just another desperate attempt by left-wing activists to damage a Republican governor who's beating them on the issues.
DeSantis and Trump aren't backing down from enforcing immigration law just because activists throw tantrums.
Sources:
- "Human rights groups issue travel warning for tourists coming to Florida," WUSF, February 6, 2026.
- "'Florida Is No Longer Safe': Leftist Groups Issue Hysterical Travel Alert To Scare Away FIFA Tourists," Daily Caller, February 3, 2026.
- Thomas Catenacci, "DeSantis responds in force to NAACP's Florida travel advisory: 'A total farce,'" Fox News, May 25, 2023.
- Elizabeth Elkind, "DeSantis dismisses NAACP's Florida travel advisory 'stunt,' cites record-high tourist travel," Fox News, May 22, 2023.
