TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As he continues to put the finishing touches on a likely presidential campaign, Governor Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday the state would send more than 1,000 law enforcement assets to the Texas border.
Governor DeSantis' move comes after the number of migrants at the border dropped by roughly 50 percent in the days after Title 42 expired, according to the Associated Press. U.S. Border Patrol reported apprehending approximately 4,917 migrants a day on Monday.
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However, a large number of migrants were attempting to cross the border in the days before Title 42 ended and most are still in custody awaiting further rulings.
DeSantis' move will send the following assets to the Texas border:
- 101 Florida Highway Patrol Troopers
- 200 Florida Department of Law Enforcement Officers, in teams of 40
- 20 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officers
- 800 Florida National Guard Soldiers
- 20 Emergency Management Personnel – including radio technicians, logisticians, mechanics, and planners
- Five available fixed-wing aircraft with monitoring equipment and downlink capabilities with two aviation crew teams
- Two Mobile Command Vehicles and two command teams
- 17 available unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and support teams
- 10 vessels – including airboats, shallow draft vessels, and mid-range vessels
The move to send law enforcement assets to the border comes through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), which allows states to send resources to other states during times of emergency, DeSantis' office said.
Here's how the EMAC said the process works:
- Activation - To receive resources through EMAC, a state's Governor must have declared an emergency or disaster, which authorizes funds to be expended for response and recovery and activating EMAC.
- Request & Offer - Once resource requests are sourced to EMAC, the request and offer process is initiated.
- Resource requests are sourced starting with the closest states (time/distance).
- The potential Assisting States assess their own risk level and, if able, use their in-state EMAC activation protocols to contact Resource Providers to determine availability and to submit offers of assistance. If resource Providers have Mission Ready Packages (MRPs) this process takes less than a minute.
- The Requesting and Assisting State Emergency Management Agencies complete the EMAC Resource Support Agreement (RSA) for accepted offers of assistance. The completed RSA constitutes a legally binding agreement between the two states.
- Response - Once the Resource Support Agreement (RSA) is complete, resources prepare to Mobilize (prepare for their mission), Deploy (conduct the mission in the Requesting State), and Demobilize (return home).
- Reimbursement - Deployed Personnel, Resource Providers, Assisting and Requesting States share the responsibility for the timely processing of reimbursements.
- Reimbursement starts with Deployed Personnel and Resource Providers submitting a reimbursement package to the Assisting State. Assisting States audit reimbursement packages that are sent to Requesting States who, upon completing an audit and resolving any outstanding issues, issue payment back to the Assisting State.
