DeSantis sends Florida law enforcement, National Guard to Texas-Mexico border to help with migrant crisis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday announced he is deploying resources, including law enforcement and drones, from state agencies to Texas to help with the ongoing migrant crisis – saying that his state is “ready to help” the border state in its efforts to secure the border.

“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,” DeSantis said in a statement. 

“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,” he said.

DESANTIS PLEDGES FLORIDA WILL USE ‘EVERY RESOURCE’ TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING 

SIOUX CENTER, IA – MAY 13: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Family Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Saturday, May 13, 2023.  ((Photo by Rebecca S. Gratz for The Washington Post via Getty Images))

The governor’s office said that Florida has over 1,100 assets and resources available to assist, including 101 Highway Patrol troops, 200 Department of Law Enforcement officers, 800 National Guard soldiers, emergency management personnel, 17 unmanned drones and 10 vessels including airboats.

The resources are being made through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which allows states to assist each other in times of emergency — Texas and Florida are both part of that agreement. DeSantis had previously aided both Texas and Arizona with law enforcement support at the beginning of the migrant crisis in 2021.

Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Chris Olivarez said in response: “We welcome the support from the state of Florida as they will provide additional law enforcement resources to help combat criminal activity & interdict deadly narcotics.”

Attention has shot back to the border in recent days with the ending of the Title 42 public health order last week — which allowed for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the border. Numbers shot up ahead of the ending of the order, with encounters of over 10,000 migrants a day. Those numbers have dropped since the ending of the order, but it remains to be seen if they will pick up again as the summer months near.

BIDEN ADMIN SAYS IT RELEASED 6,000 MIGRANTS INTO US BEFORE COURT ORDER BLOCKING PAROLE POLICY 

Florida secured a major court victory hours before the ending of the order when it obtained a two-week restraining order on the Biden administration’s attempts to release migrants into the U.S. on “parole with conditions.” The state successfully argued that the policy was “materially identical” to a “Parole + ATD” policy which was struck down in March in response to litigation from Florida. 

The Biden administration has called that latest order “sabotage” and has denied that it is engaging in any sort of “mass release” of migrants — even as it said in a court filing this week that authorities released over 6,000 migrants in a single day.

DeSantis has also flown migrants into Martha’s Vineyard and recently signed a sweeping bill that cracks down on illegal immigration in the state – including by making it a felony to transport an illegal immigrant and by mandating that businesses verify the immigration statuses of their workers.

WHITE HOUSE RAGES AFTER FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS RELEASE OF MIGRANTS WITHOUT COURT DATES: ‘SABOTAGE’ 

DeSantis, in remarks earlier Tuesday, highlighted the court ruling as one instance of the pressure the Sunshine State is placing on the Biden administration.

“With respect to this border issue, we’ve gotten injunctions on them doing mass releases, and we’re staying on them…because it’s a really important issue to actually have sovereignty in our country and have the rule of law upheld,” he told a crowd at Broward County’s Lighthouse Point. 

“We’ve also, as a state, from really the beginning of the Biden administration been leaning in on the issue, including helping Texas in the past, and we’ve offered a number of assets, boats, planes and personnel to help now. And so we stand by ready to help with that because I think what you’re seeing is going to be really, really bad, potentially very shortly,” he said.

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DeSantis was speaking as he signed bills to crack down on human trafficking in the state, including SB 7064 to combat the problem and support victims and SB 1690 — which requires hotels to follow current human trafficking awareness laws and enhance protections for young children. He also signed HB 1465 to strengthen criminal penalties.

Fox News’ Julia Musto contributed to this report.