Flight carrying rescued Americans from Haiti safely lands in Florida

SANFORD, Fla. – Florida’s Division of Emergency Management announced that a plane carrying rescued Americans from Haiti safely landed in Florida on Wednesday.

The plane landed at the Orlando-Sanford International Airport, following a press conference by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the division’s director, Kevin Guthrie, who announced the departure of the aircraft from the war-torn island nation.

The division thanked DeSantis for helping coordinate the flight and reported that 14 Floridians in total were rescued.

“This is why emergency managers do what we do,” Guthrie said on social media. “Thank you to our state and local partners for this vital collaborative effort to bring Floridians home safely. With @GovRonDeSantis leading the way, @FLSERT will dedicate every resource available until the mission is complete.”

During the press conference, the governor highlighted how the flight would be the “first of probably many” to help bring U.S. citizens, specifically Floridians, home.

DeSantis said that it’s “sad” how it’s easier to get into the country illegally through the U.S. southern border with Mexico than it is to do so legally.

“That’s sad that the bureaucracy turns very harshly against our own citizens. They’ve had to navigate a lot of bureaucratic hurdles, finally here we’re going to have a flight that’s going to be landing here later today,” he said. “So I’m excited about that.”

“We’re committed to rescuing Floridians from this situation, it’s a bad situation,” he added.

DeSantis reassured the public that the state is not charging the individuals they rescue for the flight costs.

“I think the federal government has done some, they’re charging people just like the did out of Israel, that’s not what we’re doing,” he said.

Guthrie thanked the airport for their cooperation with the legal process of getting the U.S. citizens back into the state. He also highlighted how difficult it was for him to work with the federal government.

“It’s very, very difficult. You make phone calls, no phone calls back. You send emails, no emails back. And this has been across a number of federal agencies at the D.C. level,” he said.

Guthrie added that about 300 Florida residents are still in harms way inside the Island nation of Haiti.

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., has made multiple trips to personally rescue trapped Americans in Haiti and Israel when both nations experienced immediate dangers for those living within them.

In his most recent rescue, Mills returned 13 Americans safely back to the Florida, slamming the Biden administration for failing to help save U.S. citizens from areas with heightened conflict.