Florida In A State Of Emergency?

Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has activated the state National Guard in order to deal with the influx of migrants who have been arriving in the Florida Keys. A new executive order signed on Friday mobilized the Guard and also redirected the efforts of many agencies toward the hundreds of incoming citizens. The agencies are going to need to organize resources for the local government to be able to handle the surge of migrants.

In a release, DeSantis said that this is further evidence of how Biden’s lack of policies to protect the border is having a negative impact. He added that the lawless immigration policies followed by the administration mean that local law enforcement is tasked with dealing fully with the crisis. As he noted this is why the National Guard as well as many other state resources would now need to be used in order to alleviate the strain that would have otherwise crippled local communities. He added that even when the federal government failed they would be there to step up and help support Floridians and their communities.

This executive order came around a week after reports started coming out regarding the arrival of 500 migrants in the Florida Keys during New Year’s weekend. Approximately 300 migrants landed on islands within Dry Tortugas National Park, which led to its temporary closing until the migrants could be processed. The executive order also notes that since August there have been more than 8,000 migrant encounters by law enforcement.