The Pandemic Surveillance State

In late March, while many Florida beaches remained dangerously packed, Governor Ron DeSantis called for checkpoints along the state’s border for law enforcement to meet incoming travelers. He refused to issue a statewide stay-at-home order for residents, instead mandating 14-day quarantines for all people traveling to Florida from a growing list of states—Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut—and he threatened criminal action if the quarantines were violated. (The president approved of Governor DeSantis’s performance, calling him “a very tough guy.”) More governors joined in: Police were instructed by Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo to stop people at the border if they had New York license plates, and the National Guard conducted house searches to enforce a quarantine on travelers from New York. Texas Governor Greg Abbott had state troopers similarly enforce a quarantine.