Governor Ron DeSantis has stated that he will deploy soldiers of the Florida National Guard to help Texas combat a “invasion” of illegal immigration. The government of US President Joe Biden has sought to prevent Texas from locking its border.
According to a statement sent by DeSantis’ office on Thursday, approximately 1,000 soldiers will be deployed to Texas. They will be joined by Florida State Guard personnel and approximately 90 members of various Florida law enforcement agencies who are already stationed at the border.
“States have every right to defend their sovereignty and we are pleased to increase our support to Texas as the Lone Star State works to stop the invasion across the border,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Our reinforcements will enable Texas erect more obstacles, including razor wire along the border. We don’t have a country if we don’t have a border.”
During his first week in office, Biden signed a flurry of executive orders repealing former President Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions. Illegal crossings have surged as a result, with a record 302,000 people caught crossing the 2,000-mile border in December, and more than 10 million entering the US since 2021. Under Biden’s policy of ‘catch and release’, apprehended migrants are immediately released into the US, with orders to show up at immigration hearings years in the future.
Texas, which shares more than 1,200 miles of border with Mexico, sent national guardsmen to the border in 2021 and began erecting razor wire barriers at major crossing spots. The Biden administration responded by suing the state, and last month the Supreme Court determined that federal authorities could cross the border to remove the razor wire.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to ignore the verdict and install more wire, claiming that the Biden administration has failed to uphold the constitutional duties to police federal immigration law, and that his duty to protect his residents takes precedence over any federal legislation.
Although the Department of Homeland Security gave Abbott three days to begin removing the obstacles late last month, a US Customs and Border Patrol official told Fox News that the agency had “no plans” to move in and destroy the barriers after Abbott ignored the deadline.
Some 25 Republican governors issued a joint statement of solidarity with Abbott last week, accusing Biden of “illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally.”
Florida has been sending law enforcement personnel and soldiers to help Texas since 2021. National Guard forces have created roadblocks and observation stations, while Florida Highway Patrol officers have detained nearly 150,000 illegal aliens and charged 2,102 people with smuggling or human trafficking, according to DeSantis’ administration.
