Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said he may send Haitian migrants who arrive in his state to Martha’s Vineyard.
“We also have a transport program that will be in operation. So if Haitians land in the Florida Keys, they could possibly be sent to Martha’s Vineyard,” he stated. in an interview Tuesday with podcast host Dana Loesch.
Chaos is happening in Haiti as the country deals with widespread gang violence and political instability. The U.S. has encouraged all Americans to leave the country and has begun evacuating the U.S. Embassy. begin evacuating the U.S. Embassy, where it also deployed a group of Marines.
Earlier this month, DeSantis sent additional resources to the southern areas of the state to deal with potential migration from Haiti. He also announced last week that he would deploy more than 200 additional state law enforcement officers and about 50 National Guard members to South Florida and the Keys, along with more than a dozen aircraft and ships.
DeSantis said the state has put a huge amount of resources into the effort, which he argued is not its responsibility as the federal government is in charge of intercepting ships.
“But I’m not just going to sit there and complain,” DeSantis continued. “If there’s a gap to be filled, we’re doing it.”
DeSantis said that it’s “very important” that Florida authorities intercept vessels carrying Haitian migrants before they reach the state. He added that it is “easy” to send them back if they are caught at sea. However, if they land in Florida, he cannot send the migrants back to Haiti without getting clearance.
“If you wanted to fly somebody to a South American country, wherever they’re from, it becomes a little bit more difficult because the federal government’s going to tell the host countries not to accept our plane,” he said.
“So we’ve gone through these iterations of what can we do as states. I definitely think we can help put them back over the border if they come across in Texas or Arizona, and so I’d be willing to help do that. I think that the states really have no other choice to do that at that point,” he added.
Florida state officials announced last week that a boat carrying 25 Haitian migrants was recently interdicted by Florida Fish and Wildlife officers.
