DeSantis to deploy Florida National Guard to Texas-Mexico border in latest anti-migrant stunt

Tallahassee, Florida - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday that he is deploying the Florida National Guard and State Guard to the Texas-Mexico border in his latest anti-migrant stunt.

Governor Ron DeSantis has announced he is sending around 1,000 Florida National Guard members to the Texas-Mexico border to stop migrants from crossing into the US.
Governor Ron DeSantis has announced he is sending around 1,000 Florida National Guard members to the Texas-Mexico border to stop migrants from crossing into the US.  © Joseph Prezioso / AFP

DeSantis said around 1,000 members of the Florida National Guard would be stationed in Texas to help prevent migrants from crossing the border into the US.

"States have every right to defend their sovereignty and we are pleased to increase our support to Texas as the Lone Star State works to stop the invasion across the border," DeSantis said in a statement.

"Our reinforcements will help Texas to add additional barriers, including razor wire along the border. We don't have a country if we don't have a border," he added.

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The move comes after the US Supreme Court decided last month to allow the Biden administration to remove concertina wire barriers Texas has installed at the Southern border.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has already indicated he does not intend to comply with the order, doubling down on his dangerous "invasion" rhetoric.

DeSantis ramps up anti-migrant rhetoric amid growing human rights crisis

DeSantis, who called for using "lethal force" at the border while on the 2024 campaign trail, had previously sent around 90 officers from Florida to Texas. The Republican governor dropped out of the race for president in January.

Meanwhile, border residents are reporting widespread racial profiling and other human rights violations as a result of growing militarization in their communities.

The right to seek asylum is internationally recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Refugee Convention of 1951, and domestically in the Refugee Act of 1980.

Cover photo: Joseph Prezioso / AFP

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