TALLAHASSEE, Fla — Following the expiration of Title 42 restrictions, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the deployment of state law enforcement to help the state of Texas.
DeSantis in a news release Tuesday that Florida has more than 1,100 assets and resources available to aid Texas in "defending the border security crisis."
800 Florida National Guard soldiers, 200 Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers and 101 Florida Highway Patrol troopers are set to head to Texas. Aircraft, mobile command vehicles and airboats were also mentioned.
"The impacts of Biden’s Border Crisis are felt by communities across the nation, and the federal government’s abdication of duty undermines the sovereignty of our country and the rule of law," DeSantis said in a statement. "At my direction, state agencies including law enforcement and the Florida National Guard are being deployed to Texas, with assets including personnel, boats and planes. While Biden ignores the crisis he created, Florida stands ready to help Texas respond to this crisis."
The deployment of assets was made possible through the Emergency Management Assistant Compact (EMAC) in which states can provide resources to other states to assist in times of emergency. Resources will be deployed within the next 24 hours.
Last week, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the Border Patrol made 6,300 arrests on Friday — the first day after the Title 42 restrictions expired — and 4,200 Saturday. That's sharply below the 10,000-plus on three days last week as migrants rushed to get in before new policies to restrict asylum took effect. Despite the drop in recent days, authorities predict arrests will spike to between 12,000 and 14,000 a day, Matthew Hudak, deputy Border Patrol chief, said in a court filing Friday.
President Joe Biden, spending the weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, said his hope was that the border numbers would “continue to go down” but that “we have a lot more work to do.”
“We need some more help from the Congress as well, in terms of funding and legislative changes,” Biden told reporters.
The administration is touting new legal pathways in an effort to deter illegal crossings, including parole for 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans a month who apply online with a financial sponsor and arrive at an airport.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.