As Florida continues to respond to the influx of migrants landing in the Keys, the director of the Division of Emergency Management gave insight Tuesday on how state agencies are addressing the crisis.
FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie said along with the Florida National Guard, Florida Highway Patrol troopers and officers with the Department of Law Enforcement and Fish and Wildlife Commission have arrived in the Keys days after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state emergency to prevent further migrant landings.
"(The National Guard) have their aircraft working night operations from about midnight to 6 in the morning, so yes, they are already performing missions in the lower Keys, specifically looking into the Florida Straits and to that area around the Dry Tortugas," Guthrie said.
The National Guard's mission, for now, is solely to fly helicopters and help spot migrant vessels, and then report that to the Coast Guard.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
"They are identifying potential targets," Guthrie said. "They radio to the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard has the authority to then interdict."
Migrant Crisis
The second main objective is cleaning up the Florida shorelines.
"We are locating and destroying these illegal vessels that have come into Florida shores and are actually polluting our shores," Guthrie said. "They have human excrement, they have oil, they have gas, they have hydraulic fluids. We are getting those out of the water and then destroying those vessels"
Guthrie said the National Guard does not have the authority to interdict and is simply an extra set of eyes on the water.
The FWC is assisting the Coast Guard and Border Patrol with migrant landings around the Marquesas Keys and the Dry Tortugas, as well as conducting routine flights. Nearly two dozen FDLE officers were deployed to Monroe County, and the FHP deployed 25 troopers, two aircraft and a mobile command bus.
Meanwhile, officials confirmed a group of migrants — including children — landed in Duck Key on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Border Patrol officers confirmed about 19 Cubans in a wooden boat landed on Key Colony Beach.
In Fort Lauderdale, police confirmed about 25 migrants were detained after landing near the 700 block of Seabreeze Boulevard.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who represents the Florida Keys, had strong words on the House floor Wednesday, calling on the Biden administration to take action immediately to address the crisis.
"Since August 2022 alone, federal state and local enforcement have encountered nearly 10,000 people in waters off the coast of Florida, and the Biden administration is directly responsible," Gimenez said.
"We must reimburse Monroe County and the State of Florida for local resources that have been expended to process and care for the latest wave of migrants," said Gimenez on the floor. "We need to increase Customs and Border Protection on site in Monroe County and provide additional resources to the Florida Keys."
Last week, the Biden administration announced plans to deport migrants that enter illegally and open new paths for legal entry for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
