Internal documents show heated back-and-forth between DeSantis and Biden admin over care of migrant children

An ongoing feud over U.S. President Joe Biden's immigration policies is escalating in Florida where Gov. Ron DeSantis is threatening to keep long-standing shelters from caring for migrant children, culminating in a heated back and forth unfolding in internal correspondence obtained by CNN.

The Republican governor's office and the Biden administration are sparring over whether migrant children who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border alone should be cared for by shelters in Florida, as they have been since 2005. The children, who are in government custody, stay at shelters until they can be reunited with a vetted sponsor, like a parent or relative, in the United States.

But in a letter sent to the Health and Human Services Department last week, obtained by CNN, Florida's general counsel, Ryan Newman, alleged the federal government was participating in a "human trafficking scheme." HHS, which is responsible for the care of migrant children, said DeSantis' threat to revoke state licenses from shelters that take these migrants raises "serious legal concerns" and threatened to take the matter to the Justice Department.

The spat pits DeSantis, a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate, up against the Biden administration with migrant children in the middle, as evidenced in the leaked documents.

In December, the DeSantis administration issued an emergency rule that would strip shelters caring for migrant minors in Florida of state licensing, and therefore oversight, if they accept new placements from the border, potentially affecting hundreds of children.