DeSantis Announces Deployment of Troops and Assets to Texas Border

TALLAHASEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that the state will deploy more than 1,000 law enforcement officers to the Texas border as he continues to wrap up his likely presidential campaign.

Governor DeSantis’ move comes after the number of immigrants at the border dropped by about 50 percent in the days after Title 42 expired. According to Associated Press. U.S. Border Patrol reported on Monday that it had arrested about 4,917 migrants per day.

Related: DeSantis Moves to Potential Presidential Election, and What to Expect Next

However, in the days before Title 42 ended, dozens of migrants were trying to cross the border, most of them still in detention awaiting further judgment.

DeSantis’ move will result in the following assets being sent to the Texas border:

• 101 Florida Highway Patrol
• 200 Florida law enforcement officers (team of 40)
• 20 officers of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
• 800 Florida National Guard
• 20 emergency management personnel – including radio technicians, logistics personnel, mechanics and planners
• 5 fixed-wing aircraft and 2 aircrew teams available with surveillance and downlink capabilities
• 2 mobile command vehicles and 2 command teams
• 17 unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) available and a support team
• 10 vessels – including airboats, shallow draft vessels and medium range vessels

DeSantis’ office said the move to send law enforcement to the border came through an Emergency Management Assistance Agreement (EMAC) that allows states to send resources to other states in times of emergency.
Here it is EMAC stated how the process works:

• Activation – To receive resources through EMAC, the governor must declare an emergency or disaster and authorize the expenditure of funds for response and recovery and activation of EMAC.
• Requests and Offers – When a resource request is submitted to EMAC, the request and offer process begins.
  • Resource requests start from the closest state (time/distance).
  • Potential assisting countries should assess their level of risk and, if possible, contact resource providers using the EMAC Activation Protocol within their state to determine availability and submit an offer of assistance. To do. If the resource provider has a Mission Ready Package (MRP), this process she completes in less than a minute.
  • The requesting and assisting State Emergency Management Agencies will complete an EMAC Resource Support Agreement (RSA) for the accepted offer of assistance. A completed RSA constitutes a legally binding agreement between the two countries.
• Response – Once the Resource Assistance Agreement (RSA) is completed, resources are prepared for mobilization (mission preparation), deployment (performing missions in the requesting country), and demobilization (return home).
• Reimbursement – Contributed staff, resource providers, supporting and requesting countries share responsibility for timely processing of reimbursement.
  • Reimbursement begins with the submission of a reimbursement package to the donor country by the dispatched manpower and resource providers. Donors audit reimbursement packages sent to requesting countries, and upon completion of audits and resolution of outstanding issues, the requesting countries make payments to donor countries.