TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that about 1,000 Florida National Guard members and the Florida State Guard will be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border based on Texas’ needs.
This will be the first deployment of the State Guard.
“The goal is to help Texas fortify this border,” DeSantis said. “Help them strengthen the barricade. Help them add barriers. Help them add the wire that they need to so that we can stop this invasion once and for all. The states have to band together to be able to defend the rule of law.”
“If we don’t have a border then we are not a sovereign country. You either have a border or you don’t. You’re either a sovereign country or you’re not,” DeSantis said during the news conference. “So what we’re doing today, we’re stepping up, we’re helping.”
DeSantis and the Florida Division of Emergency Management announced that Florida teams have made contact with nearly 150,000 undocumented migrants since 2021 with Operation Lone Star. The teams have also assisted the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) with approximately 2,700 arrests.
“This is important,” DeSantis said. “This is one of the most important issues happening in our country today. The people in DC may not think that this is that important because it doesn’t affect them. They’re more concerned about sending your money overseas or doing what it is that they do.”
The governor said the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will continue to have a presence at the border.