As the government of Haiti appears poised to collapse in the face of a violent revolution by criminal gangs, the nearby U.S. state of Florida is preparing for a tidal wave of illegal aliens from the devastated island nation.
According to Politico, lawmakers in Florida have already issued warnings about the potential national security risk of so many third-world illegals coming to the U.S. as a result of the humanitarian crisis, especially as Congress has not yet determined a definitive policy towards Haiti.
“The instability in Haiti impacts every Haitian throughout the diaspora,” said State Representative Dotie Joseph (D-Fla.). “It’s something that weighs heavily on all of our hearts and creates a feeling of helplessness because we all want to help and the path to a solution is not crystal clear.”
Haiti is located 700 miles away from Florida, and many Haitians have come to Florida in the past; there are currently over 276,000 people living in Florida who were born in Haiti, including several state representatives such as Rep. Joseph.
The Biden Administration has announced its intentions to spend at least $100 million to build a multinational coalition aimed at ending the violence in Haiti, which is the result of criminal gangs waging war against the incumbent governor of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with multiple Caribbean leaders in Jamaica to discuss the crisis and a possible response.
On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) announced that he had directed the state government to send 250 more officers and troops to the southern coast “to protect our state” from a possible influx of Haitians trying to arrive by sea. The coast is also being patrolled by over a dozen ships and aircraft.
“Illegal immigrants feel empowered to enter the sovereign territory of the United States because of the federal government’s refusal to diligently enforce our immigration laws and protect the integrity of the border,” said DeSantis’ office in a statement. “When a state faces the possibility of invasion, it has the right and duty to defend its territory and people.”
The potential spike in Haitian illegal aliens would add just one more layer to the ongoing broader mass migration crisis, where millions of illegals have entered the country through an unguarded southern border due to Biden’s open-borders approach to immigration policy. Haitians have already entered the United States by land in the tens of thousands after crossing the Texas border.