Florida: Ron DeSantis Takes Drastic Action Amid Fears of Mass Migration

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped the state's National Guard on Friday to respond to the Florida mass migration, with migrants arriving by boat in recent weeks.

DeSantis also directed other state law enforcement and other agencies to provide resources in the local government's response to the mass migration, as seen with migrants leading in the Florida Keys.

The office of the governor also announced that the National Guard will be an additional support to the state's initiatives on mass migration.

DeSantis then pinned the blame for the U.S. migration crisis on U.S. President Joe Biden's "lawless immigration policies." The governor described the situation as the "burden of the Biden administration's failure."

The Republican governor then said that the president continues to ignore his legal responsibilities and that the state will step in to "support our communities."

DeSantis also said that Florida will deploy the state's air assets, which included airplanes and helicopters from the Florida National Guard.

He noted that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission marine patrol will be called to support water interdictions while also ensuring the safety of migrants traveling through the Florida Straits.

The executive order also noted that the state of Florida has since assisted refugees, "including Cubans and other fleeing communist regimes."

Florida Mass Migration

The Florida Keys has seen an influx of migrants and refugees just at the start of the year 2023. Officials estimated that around 500 asylum seekers arrived in the state through a boat ride.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the situation amounts to a "humanitarian crisis," with U.S. Border Patrol issuing directions to delay some landings until some federal resources arrive.

The Sheriff's Office also blamed the Florida keys situation with migrants on "federal failure," adding that it showed a lack of "a working plan by the federal government" when addressing the U.S. migration crisis, according to a local Sheriff Rick Ramsay.

From October 2021 to September 2022, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded 224,607 "encounters" with Cuban migrants and refugees, which is a 471% increase over the previous fiscal year.

In October and November, the Border Protection agency logged 65.731 encounters while the U.S. Coast Guard reported 6,182 Cubans seized for the fiscal year of 2022.

U.S. Migration Crisis

In December, the Homeland Security Department revealed an emergency six-point plan to address the migration crisis.

Title 42 was introduced early at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed officials to refuse admittance to certain categories of migrants.

Critics claimed that it not only abused the "principles of public health," but that the policy was being enforced for so long.

They also noted that the Title 42 policy was a "cruel and unfair infringement of the human right to make an asylum claim."

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar said people kept on saying that there are more important things than visiting the border.

Cuellar added that one must show up "if there's a crisis."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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