Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that Haitians fleeing the gang-controlled nation to South Florida could get shipped off to the destination island of Martha’s Vineyard.
“We do have our transport program also that’s going to be operational,” DeSantis said Tuesday on Dana Loesch’s podcast.
“Haitians land in the Florida Keys – their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard.”
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The Republican governor announced last week an increase of personnel and aircraft to the Florida coast in light of unrest in Haiti and the potential for an increase in migration via the sea from the conflict-hit country.
“The problem when you get to a situation like Florida is if they have people in our state and we wanted to fly them, say, back to Haiti, you have to get clearance to be able to do that. If you wanted to fly somebody to a South American country, wherever they’re from, it becomes a little bit more difficult because the federal government’s going to tell the host countries not to accept our planes,” DeSantis said.
“It’s a little bit different for a maritime state like us,” he continued. “That’s why we’ve really got to get them before they reach the shores, and that’s why we’re working so hard to do that.”
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Aid groups say nearly 1.4 million people in the nation are on the verge of famine and more than 4 million need help accessing food.
The defense deployment in Florida includes 48 additional National Guardsmen with four additional helicopters, 39 officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 30 additional Florida Highway Patrol officers with aircraft and drones, and 23 additional officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission with eight additional seacrafts, according to DeSantis’ office.
On Friday, DeSantis said state law enforcement had intercepted a vessel coming to the Florida coast carrying dozens of Haitian migrants, as well as firearms, drugs and night vision gear.
“I’ve got to defend my state,” DeSantis said. “I’ve got enough issues just dealing with people fleeing from blue states moving to Florida.”
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
* Original Article:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-gov-ron-desantis-says-next-stop-for-haitians-who-land-in-florida-keys-may-be-marthas-vineyard.amp