National Guard deployed after hundreds of Cuban migrants arrive in Florida

Governor Ron DeSantis activated the Florida National Guard on Friday (6) to respond to the influx of hundreds of mostly Cuban migrants arriving by boat in South Florida, escalating long-standing tensions between the Republican governor and the Biden administration in terms of immigration.

The decision comes at a time complicated by a broader border-related immigration row that DeSantis, a likely 2024 presidential candidate, has long used to attack the Biden administration. But the governor’s tough immigration policy here is complicated because the migrants landing in and near the Florida Keys are largely Cuban, representing a politically powerful bloc of South Florida voters who have overwhelmingly supported him.

“As the negative impact of Biden’s lawless immigration policies continues unabated, the burden of the Biden administration’s failures falls on local law enforcement agencies, which lack the resources to address the crisis,” DeSantis said in a statement Friday afternoon. “If Biden continues to ignore his legal responsibilities, we will stand up for our communities.”

Hundreds of Cuban migrants fleeing the island nation have landed in the Florida Keys in recent days, a steady increase of those making the perilous 100-mile journey. Authorities have apprehended 4,153 Cuban migrants at sea since Oct. 1, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, a huge increase from the 838 arrested in fiscal year 2021.

The Keys have been inundated with more than 500 Cuban immigrants in the past two days, which, according to DeSantis, has put local authorities “at particular strain”.

Haitians fleeing economic instability and violence have also arrived by boat in South Florida in recent days.

The surge of migrants in Florida is similar to the surge of asylum seekers on the southern Texas border, where thousands of Central and South Americans have attempted to enter America in recent weeks.

Biden resigned on Thursday a new policy which allows the entry into the country of 30,000 immigrants a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

DeSantis has long used immigration policies as a major criticism of the Biden administration, even though the state he leads is hundreds of miles from the southern border. In mid-September, the DeSantis government funded flights that carried mostly Venezuelan asylum-seekers from the southern border to Martha’s Vineyard, a Massachusetts enclave typically populated by liberal-leaning, affluent residents.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott also bused thousands of migrants to Democratic strongholds like New York, Chicago and Washington, DC, including Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence at the Naval Observatory.

Records show that the DeSantis government went to great lengths to obfuscate this planning process. For example, public safety officer Larry Keefe used an email address to plan his flight that made the emails appear to come from “Clarice Starling,” the protagonist of “The Silence of the Lambs.”

However, the policy changes when the immigrants are Cuban. DeSantis won the 2022 midterm elections by 15 points ahead of Hispanics, most of whom are Cuban, a historically more conservative segment of the electorate. Additionally, Florida International University’s annual Cuba poll found that Republicans, including DeSantis, enjoy near-record support from Cuban voters.

“It looks like the Republican Party train is still picking up passengers on Calle Ocho,” said Guillermo Grenier, a sociology professor and lead pollster on the annual poll. Calle Ocho refers to a historic Cuban neighborhood in Little Havana in Miami. “They remain loyal to the Republican Party and its Trumpian version.”

Members of the Florida Legislature representing South Florida say the state has been monitoring the situation.

“To die Florida Division of Emergency Management and law enforcement is monitoring the situation in the Keys,” Republican Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez said. “State law enforcement is sending additional resources to bolster local assets. Most of the additional assets will be available early next week.”

House Democrat Fentrice Driskell on Friday lambasted DeSantis for his criticism of Biden, saying that much of the blame for the current immigration dilemma falls on hardliners in Congress.

“While the influx of migrants into South Florida certainly needs to be addressed, DeSantis is bringing up the issue of President Biden in a blatant attempt to raise his own national profile,” Driskell said in a statement.