Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending members of the Florida State Guard and other forces under his command to the southern part of the state to deal with Haitian migrants fleeing issues at home.
"For quite some time, the State of Florida has been dedicating significant resources to combat illegal vessels coming to Florida from countries such as Haiti," DeSantis said as he announced new reinforcements for the state's Operation Vigilant Sentry.
"Given the circumstances in Haiti, I have directed the Division of Emergency Management, the Florida State Guard, and state law enforcement agencies to deploy over 250 additional officers and soldiers and over a dozen air and sea craft to the southern coast of Florida to protect our state. No state has done more to supplement the (under-resourced) U.S. Coast Guard's interdiction efforts; we cannot have illegal aliens coming to Florida."
More than half of those deployed this week are from the State Guard, which saw its forces doubled recently given the graduation of a training class.
In addition to that 133-member contingent, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will send 39 additional officers, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will deploy 23 additional officers with eight additional seacraft, the Florida National Guard will engage 48 additional Guardsmen with four additional helicopters, and the Florida Highway Patrol will allocate 30 additional officers with an additional aircraft and drones for surveillance.
The Governor has been willing to use his forces on a variety of missions, including one out of state, as reflected by DeSantis' announcement last month to add his soldiers to other police and fighting forces from Florida headed for the Texas border with Mexico.
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