Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox News on Friday that his state agencies are prepared for any potential influx of Haitian migrants fleeing the chaos gripping the Caribbean nation.
DeSantis told “Hannity” that, in a separate case, a boat carrying 25 Haitian nationals, firearms, “night-vision gear” and drugs was interdicted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Those onboard were reportedly transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard to commence deportation proceedings.
“We step up and do what we need to do in Florida,” DeSantis said, after host Sean Hannity noted that in the cases of the interdicted boat and the deployment of state resources to protect the state from any potential Haitian migrant flow, the governor did not wait for the Biden administration to act or assist.
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“I don’t expect, necessarily, to get the help that I think we’re entitled to, and what we found over the last several years is the Coast Guard — they do a good job. They’re just way under-resource[d]. Biden will not provide the number of vessels that they need to interdict all the ships that come,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis said his state agencies have halted 660 vessels, largely from Caribbean nations, as well as 13,580 illegal aliens.
“[W]e have the strongest protection that our shorelines have ever had,” he said. “[W]e did interdict the one boat that had the 25 Haitians that were trying to come illegally with guns and drugs.”
The governor underlined Florida has yet to see a mass influx of boats from Haiti, chalking it up to his state’s strategy of deterrence.
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“I think part of that is because people know if you take that journey, you’re going to get stopped and you’re going to end up back where you started, so it’s not worth it.”
DeSantis also surmised part of the reason there has not been a mass maritime ingress is because the U.S. border with Mexico is so porous under President Biden’s auspices, it is much easier to enter the United States by land, even for people from island nations.
Recounting a press conference earlier Friday, DeSantis said he was asked why he is taking such preparatory actions despite no indication of a Haitian surge.
“I said, what are you supposed to do, wait for it to happen?”
“So we’re putting our assets in place to be able to defend the state.”
Haiti has been thrown into turmoil as of late, after acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry fled the country for, as recently as this week, Puerto Rico, according to Reuters. Henry took office shortly after then-Prime Minister Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021.
Gang violence has taken over the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, largely led by a reportedly lethal slumlord nicknamed “Barbecue.”
