MONROE COUNTY, Fla. – As chaos continued in Haiti, Gov. Ron DeSantis worried about a mass migration and deployed members of the Florida National Guard to help enforce immigration law at sea.
Logan Wilson is among the National Guard members deployed to serve in four additional helicopters out of the Florida Keys. Wilson, a crew chief specialist, is the eyes of his team.
“I will take my camera over there, locate the vessel, zoom in as best as I can,” Wilson said about their needle-in-a-haystack search for undocumented migrants at sea.
Lt. Col. Brian Cooper reported that they had not found any migrants heading toward Florida. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, in Port-au-Prince, a police union reported gang members had killed a police officer.
“I think deterrence is a big factor in what we do and how we operate,” Cooper said.
Last week, DeSantis announced the operation was meant “to supplement” the “under-resourced” U.S. Coast Guard’s interdiction efforts.
DeSantis directed the state’s Division of Emergency Management, the Florida State Guard, and state law enforcement agencies to deploy over 250 additional officers and soldiers to the southern coast.
“Our goal is to detect, identify, and then report it,” Cooper said adding that the “assets in the area” will make contact with the vessel.
On Tuesday, Reps. Matt Gaetz, Gus Biliarakis, Anna Paulina Luna and Daniel Webster signed a letter to President Joe Biden asking that the U.S. Navy engage in maritime interdictions and interceptions.
“We believe the resources are insufficient to address the scope and scale of the anticipated mass migration,” the lawmakers wrote.
Last week, DeSantis said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers found Haitians who were “boating very recklessly with firearms, drugs, and night vision gear.
North of Vero Beach, the FWC reported two officers on nighttime patrol found 25 Haitian migrants — including five children — with two U.S. citizens on Feb. 29, near the Sebastian Inlet.
The resources
- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement: 39 additional officers.
- The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: 23 additional officers.
- The Florida National Guard: 48 additional Guardsmen with four additional helicopters.
- The Florida Highway Patrol: 30 additional officers with additional aircraft and drones for surveillance.
Torres contributed to this report from Miami.