Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday that he will send state and local law enforcement agents to help Arizona and Texas secure the southern border, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
DeSantis described the “border security crisis” as an issue affecting “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,” he said.
President Joe Biden has left border states to fend for themselves, which caused Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, both Republicans, to plead for “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,” DeSantis said. “Florida has your back.”
Abbott and Ducey on June 10 addressed a letter to the nation’s other 48 governors, requesting their aid in maintaining the nation’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
They wrote that their states “bear a disproportionate share” of the burdens of preventing illegal immigration, yet their efforts benefit every other state.
“Given the staggering number of violations now occurring in Texas and Arizona, additional manpower is needed from any State that can spare it,” they wrote. “With your help, we can apprehend more of these perpetrators of state and federal crimes, before they can cause problems in your State.”
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said that illegal immigration causes harm to Floridians every day, which justified DeSantis’s decision to send law-enforcement officers across state lines.
“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,” she said.
Abbott and Ducey wrote, for example, that the Arizona Border Strike Task Force has seized 284lbs of fentanyl, “which represents tens of millions of lethal doses that will never reach your streets.”
