Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed plans Wednesday to dispatch over 250 soldiers and other assets to safeguard the Sunshine State against potential illegal immigrants from Haiti.
DeSantis’ move comes in response to a wave of gang violence and widespread upheaval that has rocked the Caribbean island due to a political vacuum that has plunged the nation into what some experts have described as a near civil war.
“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,” the governor said in a statement.
“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.”
In addition to deploying the soldiers, DeSantis is also ordering over a dozen sea and aircraft to guard Florida’s southern coast.
Soldiers being deployed include 23 officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 30 additional Florida Highway Patrol officers, 39 officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and 48 National Guardsmen, according to the governor’s office.
DeSantis will also send up to 133 soldiers from the Florida State Guard to the Keys.
On Tuesday, Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced that he will resign after a traditional presidential council is convened. His announcement came in response to international pressure to do so.
Haiti’s current crisis stems in part from its struggle to fill the shoes left by President Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated in 2021 by a gunman.
The nation has fractured bitterly over how to replace him and the political strife has been bubbling up for some time.
In addition to the uptick in gang violence ravaging the island nation, Haitians have also been dogged by dwindling food and other critical supplies. Henry’s resignation announcement came in response to that unrest.
Back in 2021, the US-Mexico border saw a flood of Haitian migrants. DeSantis is similarly keen on trying to stave off the potential for a similar situation to unfold near Florida.
Gangs are estimated to control 80% of Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince, according to estimates from the United Nations.
Haiti is located more than 700 miles off Florida’s coast. Over 276,000 Floridians are estimated to have been born in Haiti.
Florida has previously weathered increased migrants from nearby nations such as Cuba. In January 2023, for example, roughly 500 Cuban migrants arrived at islands in the Florida Keys.
As the crisis in Haiti unfolds, the Biden administration has been taking notice. The US sent a Marine anti-terrorist unit to safeguard the US embassy in Haiti, US Southern Command confirmed Wednesday.
The US will also doll out $300 million to help bolster security in Haiti.
“Having done all this work, we should be in a place where that mission goes forward,” Secretary of State Blinken said. “It will, we believe, help reestablish security and take back control of the country from gangs.”
