According to the governor’s office, assets include 200 Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) officers, 800 Florida National Guardsmen, 101 Florida Highway Patrol troopers, 20 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, and 20 individuals working in Emergency Management. Additionally, Florida is sending what the DeSantis office described as 17 “unmanned aerial vehicles,” ten vessels, two Mobile Command Vehicles, and “five available fixed wing aircraft with monitoring equipment and downlink capabilities with two aviation crew teams.”
This is not the first time DeSantis has sent help to Texas, sending officers to assist with these issues in both Texas and Arizona in 2021 following Gov. Greg Abbott and then-Gov. Doug Ducey requesting assistance.
Tuesday’s announcement comes on the heels of DeSantis taking action against illegal immigration in his own state as well, signing Senate Bill 1718, making the Sunshine State the largest state in the country to do full E-Verify for employment.