Coast Guard Asked DeSantis Administration for Migrant Influx Assistance

By Eric Daugherty

Published Jan. 13, 2023, 9:00 a.m. ET | Updated Jan. 13, 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis unveils plan to pursue comprehensive legislation to lower prescription drug prices and promote transparency, The Villages, Fla., Jan. 12, 2023.

THE VILLAGES (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis rebuked White House accusations that he engaged in a “political stunt” by activating the National Guard to clamp down on a migrant influx into Florida.

Earlier in January, there was an “alarming influx” of illegal immigrants into Dry Tortugas National Park, 70 miles of Key West. The park closed to provide space for the migrants.

“I am activating the National Guard and directing state resources to help alleviate the strain on local resources,” DeSantis said. “When Biden continues to ignore his legal responsibilities, we will step in to support our communities.”

The governor signed an executive order to direct state agencies to provide local governments resources for handling the situation.

During the past 24 hours, Border Patrol agents & LE partners responded to 5 migrant landings & encountered 90 Cuban migrants in the Florida Keys. The migrants arrived on rustic vessels & residents notified local authorities. #fridaymorning #bordersecurity #cuba #flkeys #cbp pic.twitter.com/0u4myMZrK6
— Samuel Briggs II (@USBPChiefMIP) January 6, 2023

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lambasted DeSantis’ actions as a “political stunt.”

“We’ve seen Governor DeSantis do political stunts. That is how he perceives to fix this issue from Florida, right? […] And so we have called that out over and over again. And we will continue to do that. And he is not dealing with the problem, he’s actually creating a problem. And so that’s what I have to say to that. We’ve talked about Governor DeSantis and the, again, the mockery that he’s making of a process that the President is trying to fix,” she said.

At DeSantis’ Thursday press conference, he noted the U.S. Coast Guard “actually requested the state’s assistance to handle all these vessels.”

“Part of it is the message that’s gone out to say, ‘the rules don’t matter, just show up and you’re fine.’ You can’t run a country like that, and it’s caused a lot of problems. And so, we were seeing the Coast Guard had brought in like 300 people that they had onboarded and put them in the Florida Keys,” the governor said. “Well, they didn’t have the ability to take care of those folks.”

“The reality is, this is not the way, you know, you run a country.”

Ron DeSantis' response to the White House's claim activating the national guard to handle migrants arriving in Florida was a "political stunt"

"We are gonna clear the vessels free of charge for those residents because it wasn't their fault – maybe we'll send the bill to Biden." pic.twitter.com/RA192kvrXF
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) January 12, 2023

The Governor’s Office provided a letter from the U.S. Coast Guard asking for assistance in handling the influx:

NEW: A letter from the U.S. Coast Guard asks for Florida's help with the influx migrants off Florida's coast

Last week, the governor sent the National Guard to help with the migrants

The letter comes after the White House accused DeSantis of a 'political stunt' pic.twitter.com/uargrYkJ2y
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) January 13, 2023

Since August of 2022, federal, state and local law enforcement have encountered more than 8,000 migrants in waters off the coast of Florida.

Florida House Democrats agreed that the influx of migrants “needs to be addressed” but said “making the issue about President Biden” is an attempt to “raise his own national profile.”

“His press release mentioned President Biden’s name five times but never mentioned the hardliners in Congress who’ve spent years campaigning on our broken immigration system but never working towards a real solution,” Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said. “The Biden Administration inherited this problem, they did not cause it.”