Sen. John Fetterman has once again caught the attention of his fellow Democrats by boldly asserting that “squatters have no rights,” despite the increasing issue of unauthorized individuals temporarily taking over vacant homes in Democratic cities.
In recent weeks, a TikTok user gained significant notoriety for providing guidance to undocumented immigrants on how to exploit “squatters’ rights” in order to occupy empty houses. This came after a New York resident faced consequences for attempting to remove such individuals from her own property.
Fetterman vehemently criticized the idea of allowing squatters to claim someone else’s property and made it clear to the New York Post that he does not align with the “woke” ideology.
“Squatters have no rights,” Fetterman said. “How can you even pretend that this is anything other than you’re just breaking the law?”
“It’s wild that if you go away on a long trip, for 30 days, and someone breaks into your home, suddenly they have rights,” Fetterman continued. “This is crazy. Like if somebody stole your car, and then they held it for 30 days, then somehow you now have some rights?”
Fetterman also condemned lax crime policies that allow repeat offenders to roam free, pointing to the tragic incident involving New York Police Department officer Jonathan Diller, who was reportedly murdered by an individual with a criminal record of 21 prior arrests.
“If this individual is convicted, then he should spend the rest of his life in prison, and never have an opportunity to get out,” Fetterman told The Post. “If you have those kinds of established records, it doesn’t serve any greater goal to allow people that are offending, offending, offending and allow them to not be held accountable.”
Towards the end of the previous month, ex-GOP presidential candidate and Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, approved a bill criminalizing squatting in the state of Florida, with the intention of setting an example for other states to follow.
“We are putting an end to the squatters scam in Florida,” said DeSantis, according to a press release from his administration. “While other states are siding with the squatters, we are protecting property owners and punishing criminals looking to game the system.”
“Florida is once again leading the nation, this time in securing our state against squatters,” added Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. “Biden has allowed millions of illegal immigrants to flood across the border. After video evidence of their plan to take over homes emerged, we’re ensuring Floridians are protected from this egregious and brazen scheme.
“I’m grateful to Governor DeSantis for signing this important legislation into law, and to Representative Kevin Steele for carrying this bill through Session,” she said after the governor signed HB 621.
