Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said this week that he would consider sending Haitian migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts amid the ongoing crisis in the Caribbean country. The pledge comes as Florida blocked more than 13,000 migrants from entering the state, including a recent seizure of a boat containing migrants, weapons and drugs from Haiti.
“We do have our transport program also that’s going to be operational,” DeSantis said during an interview this week. “Haitians land in the Florida Keys – their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard.”
“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,” he said.
Haiti has entered into a state of near-anarchy since a large-scale jailbreak earlier this year. Much of the existing government has collapsed, including the resignation of the country’s prime minister.
The Pentagon is also preparing for a significant wave of migrants heading from Haiti to the United States over the seas.
The United States has also begun evacuating Americans from the country as gang warfare rules much of the capital of Port-au-Prince. Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) successfully organized two rescue missions to bring back dozens of Americans.
Florida Governor threatens to send Haitian illegal migrants to Martha's Vineyard.
Agree or disagree with him?
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— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) March 21, 2024
The governor’s statement came two years after Florida chartered a flight to the wealthy island, placing increased attention on the pressures illegal immigration places on various states.
While the move was criticized by many on the political left, it was also hailed by conservatives. States such as Florida and Texas have also been sending migrants to a number of other parts of the country, including self-declared sanctuary locations.
Florida has prevented about 13,500 migrant entries since the beginning of last year, DeSantis announced earlier this week.
“In January of 2023, I did an executive order, declaring it to be a state of emergency and so we surged vessels to be able to assist the Coast Guard,” he said.
Florida was able to interdict almost 700 such vessels carrying migrants.
