DeSantis To Deploy 1,100 Personnel To Aid Immigration Influx In Texas

FLORIDA — In response to the Biden administration letting Title 42 expire, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he is deploying 1,100 personnel, including National Guard troops, to Texas to "defend the southern border."

DeSantis said Florida stands ready to aid Texas’ border security crisis by sending 101 Florida Highway Patrol troopers, 200 Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers, 20 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, 800 National Guard soldiers and 20 radio technicians, mechanics and planners from the Division of Emergency Management to Texas.

Additionally, DeSantis announced he's sending five aircraft with monitoring equipment and downlink capabilities along with two aviation crew teams, two mobile command vehicles, 17 drones and 10 airboats, shallow-draft boats and mid-range vessels.

DeSantis said personnel will deploy to Texas within the next 24 hours.

Related: Latino Advocacy Group Issues Travel Advisory For Florida

“The impacts of Biden’s border crisis are felt by communities across the nation, and the federal government’s abdication of duty undermines the sovereignty of our country and the rule of law,” said DeSantis. “At my direction, state agencies, including law enforcement and the Florida National Guard, are being deployed to Texas, with assets including personnel, boats and planes. While Biden ignores the crisis he created, Florida stands ready to help Texas respond to this crisis.”

Title 42 is a pandemic-era policy that shut down virtually all avenues for migrants to seek asylum in the U.S. In March 2020 then-president Donald Trump invoked the rule as a public health emergency measure, and called for the immediate expulsion of migrants at the border.

The Biden administration ended the COVID public health emergency nationally, which let Title 42 expire May 11. Tens of thousands of migrants fleeing poverty, violence and political instability now fall under former U.S. immigration laws that allow them to stay in the country while their cases make their way through immigration court.

However, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the end of Title 42 is already causing "unprecedented" chaos at the border. On Tuesday, he announced that he sent letters to each of his fellow governors requesting support through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which allows states to provide resources, including personnel, to other states to assist in times of emergency.

“The flood of illegal border activity invited by the Biden administration flows directly across the southern border into Texas communities, but this crisis does not stop in our state,” said Abbott in his letter. “In the federal government’s absence, we, as governors, must band together to combat President Biden’s ongoing border crisis and ensure the safety and security that all Americans deserve."

Noting that Texas has spent more than $4.5 billion since 2021 on border security operations with the Texas Legislature currently seeking an additional $4.6 billion for the next two years, he asked fellow governors "to send all available law enforcement personnel and resources to the Texas-Mexico border to serve alongside our thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers.”

In the past 72 hours, the U.S. Border Patrol said three agents have been assaulted while apprehending 14,752 undocumented immigrants. Although 4,316 people attempted to cross the border escaped authorities, the border patrol said those apprehended included five sex offenders and a wanted felon. Border patrol agents confiscated 4 pounds of marijuana, 1 pound of cocaine, two firearms and seized $58,758.

Abbott sent a special note of thanks to Idaho and Florida, the two states that have stepped up to help to date.

“We stand with Texas as they work to repel illegal aliens at the border,” said Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie. “We are prepared to assist however needed.”

Through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, DeSantis said states that deploy resources and personnel for emergency situations are eligible for FEMA reimbursement.

This isn't the first time Florida has deployed personnel to the southern border. On June 16, 2021, DeSantis sent support and reinforcements following a letter from Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona requesting immediate assistance with the security crisis that was overwhelming law enforcement at the southern border.