Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is deploying law enforcement officers to the United States-Mexico border to help mitigate the nation’s ongoing illegal immigration crisis.
In an announcement on Wednesday, DeSantis said he will send officers with state law enforcement agencies and sheriff’s offices to the U.S.-Mexico border to assist Texas and Arizona in helping stem illegal immigration into their communities. De Santis 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.
Thus far, the following agencies have committed to deploy to the border:
- Florida Highway Patrol
- Florida Department of Law Enforcement
- 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
DeSantis said the Florida Division of Emergency Management is coordinating the law enforcement agencies’ deployment to the border.
The announcement comes after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) asked states to help them with the wave of illegal immigration pouring into their states as a result of the Biden administration’s massive Catch and Release operation.
In May, more than 172,000 border crossers were apprehended at the border — a nearly 700 percent increase in illegal immigration compared to the same time last year when former President Donald Trump had implemented fierce border controls.
After apprehending border crossers, the Biden administration is releasing tens of thousands into American communities, often by putting them up in migrant hotels along the border before sending them on buses and domestic commercial flights into the U.S. interior.
Current projections predict that about 1.2 million border crossers will be encountered at the border this year with potentially hundreds of thousands more crossing illegally, undetected by federal immigration officials.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.