Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has deployed additional assets to the southern portion of the state due to the increased risk of illegal immigrants coming from Haiti amid the nation’s unrest.
DeSantis’s office announced Wednesday that it was deploying “additional state assets to the Keys and southern waters of the State of Florida.” According to the press release, there are security and surveillance assets in South Florida as well as the Keys “as a part of Operation Vigilant Sentry to stop illegal immigration at sea.”
Additional assets include 39 officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 23 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission “with eight additional seacraft,” 48 additional Guardsmen from the Florida National Guard “with four additional helicopters,” and 30 officers from the Florida Highway Patrol.
DeSantis said in a statement:
Given the circumstances in Haiti, I have directed the Division of Emergency Management, the Florida State Guard, and state law enforcement agencies to deploy over 250 additional officers and soldiers and over a dozen air and sea craft to the southern coast of Florida to protect our state.
He noted that Florida has “significant” resources to halt illegal immigration from Haiti.
“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,” he added.
The announcement comes as Haiti continues to descend into chaos, overwhelmed with bloody gang violence.
An armed member of the G9 and Family gang patrols a roadblock in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 11, 2024. (Odelyn Joseph/AP)
As Breitbart News reported:
The prime minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, announced on Monday night he would resign “immediately” after the creation of a “Presidential Transitional Council” meant to take steps towards organizing a presidential election.
Henry’s announcement followed the near-total collapse of the country’s political infrastructure this week after he traveled to Kenya seeking law enforcement aid to subdue the increasingly powerful gangs overrunning the country. While Henry was out of the country, organized armed militias led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, the head of the G9 Family of gangs, orchestrated a massive prison break and surrounded Port-au-Prince’s airport, making it impossible for the prime minister to return. Cherizier has, for years, demanded the ouster of the entire Haitian political class and last week threatened to plunge the country into “genocide” if Henry did not resign.
Gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier with G9 federation gang members on February 22, 2024, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Giles Clarke/Getty Images)
On Sunday, the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) said it was airlifting non-essential personnel from the United States Embassy in Haiti.
“This airlift of personnel into and out of the embassy is consistent with our standard practice for embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft,” USSOUTHCOM said.
