Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has signaled that he will be helping Texas and Arizona with the border crisis by sending state and local police and law enforcement units to their aid. DeSantis is relying on the national Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a system allowing for states to assist each other in times of crisis.
The announcement from DeSantis was covered in a report by NumbersUSA, a non-partisan immigration reduction organization that lobbies policymakers to pursue an immigration policy that benefits existing citizens and legal residents of the U.S.
Both Arizona and Texas have been hard pressed recently due to a border crisis sparked by the Biden Administration’s efforts to overturn existing measures that had served to keep illegal immigration in check. Governor DeSantis is responding to requests from Governor Ducey of Arizona and Governor Abbot of Texas to provide law enforcement assets to fill in for the federal government, which has abrogated its duty to defend the country’s southwest border from illegal aliens.
The Biden administration’s neglect of border security runs contrary to the position taken by NumbersUSA with regard to immigration policy. The group stresses that, to benefit society as a whole, government should focus on selecting the right number of authorized immigrants to allow into the country. This position is supported by the conclusions of two high profile commissions (the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform and President Clinton’s Task Force on Population & Consumption) which found that reducing immigration was key to promoting economic fairness for vulnerable Americans and ensuring a high quality of life and environment for future generations.
To illustrate the magnitude of the problem at the southwest border, in May 2021 the CBP Office of Field Operations at ports of entry apprehended 8,023 people, while 172,011 people were apprehended by Border Patrol agents after they had come across the border illegally.
While the Biden Administration, according to the NumbersUSA report, continues to try and deceive the public by claiming the border is “secure,” the fact is that more than one-third of aliens who were placed under arrest for illegally entering the country were then released into the U.S. Furthermore, of all encounters with aliens in May, 38% involved individuals previously encountered by the Border Patrol in the past 12 months.
The NumbersUSA article points out that, as expected, the relaxed border policies being pursued by the current administration has resulted in increasing drug and human trafficking in the region. When questioned recently under oath, Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI, admitted that Mexican cartels have undertaken operations in the U.S amidst the border chaos. Backing this up, the article cited the seizure by the Texas Department of Public Safety of almost 95 pounds of fentanyl just in the period of from January to April of 2021.
Additionally, a report from the NY Post reveals that multiple former border patrol agents say that smugglers are using children to help their efforts by having aliens who are not related pretend to be a family in order to cross the border. Once across, they utilize the unrelated minor to gain their release. This can occur because the Biden Administration has pressured the border patrol to allow “families” to be released from custody after 72 hours and have prohibited the use of policies designed to uncover unjustified asylum claims and faux families.
According to Governor DeSantis, he will be sending officers from the following law enforcement entities to assist Arizona and Texas:
- The Florida Highway Patrol
- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement
- The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- Brevard County Sheriff’s Office
- Escambia County Sheriff’s Office
- Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
- Holmes County Sheriff’s Office
- Lee County Sheriff’s Office
- Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office
- Pasco County Sheriff’s Office
- Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office
- Walton County Sheriff’s Office
In the announcement describing Florida’s plan to assist Arizona and Texas under EMAC provisions, Governor DeSantis said:
“America’s border security crisis impacts every state and every American. The Biden Administration ended policies implemented by President Trump that were curbing illegal immigration, securing our border, and keeping Americans safe. Governors Abbott and Ducey recently sent out a call for help to every state in the nation, needing additional law enforcement manpower and other resources to aid with border security. I’m proud to announce today that the state of Florida is answering the call. Florida has your back.”
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody expressed support for the actions announced by the Governor:
“As Attorney General, I am dedicated to ending human trafficking, protecting our children from sexual predators, and fighting the opioid crisis now claiming 21 lives a day in our state, but President Biden is hurting, not helping us achieve these vital public safety goals. The crisis the President created at our southern border makes all of us less safe, and I am proud to stand with Governor DeSantis as he tries to fix the President’s disaster at the border to protect Floridians.”
About NumbersUSA
NumbersUSA Education and Research Foundation, based in Washington D.C. and Arlington, Virginia, is the largest grassroots organization focused on immigration reduction in the U.S. The nonpartisan group has more than eight million participants including conservatives, liberals and moderates. Its members are encouraged to persuade public officials that the country stands to benefit from reducing immigration numbers toward traditional levels, thereby enabling current and future generations to enjoy a standard of living that isn’t negatively impacted by excessive immigration numbers.