DeSantis hails State Guard as way to thwart Biden on immigration, ensure 'sovereignty'

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday said he wants the Florida State Guard to help out on the Texas border without the interference of President Joe Biden or federal authorities.

Answering questions after a press conference in Kissimmee on semiconductor manufacturing, the governor highlighted the importance of an state-controlled force.

"If we need to stand up and ensure the sovereignty of the country, then we need to do that, so they can count on me to help from the state of Florida," he said at NeoCity Academy, a magnet high school in Osceola County.

Bills filed this year in the Legislature (HB 1551/SB 1694) would allow the governor to send State Guard members outside Florida's borders.

Florida must have an Emergency Management Assistance Compact with another state, which allows them to share resources during natural and man-made disasters.

The State Guard was initially set up during World War II to replace Florida National Guard members who were deployed abroad. It became inactive in 1947.

After DeSantis revived the volunteer force in 2022, the size of the State Guard was expanded from up to 400 members to 1,500 members last year, and the Legislature increased its funding from $10 million to $107.6 million, including covering the costs of five aircraft and boats.

On Friday, DeSantis said Texas and other states on the southern border could be a destination for the State Guard if needed.

Last year, the governor sent Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents, Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Florida Fish and Wildlife officers to help with Operation Lone Star, an initiative started by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop undocumented immigrants from crossing the border.

From USA TODAY: 25 states with Republican governors sign letter supporting Texas in border control fight: What to know

This week, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had the authority to enforce the country's border security and ordered Texas to remove razor wire and other barricades along the Rio Grande River.

Texas has the most Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees as of Jan. 12, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonprofit data tracking organization out of Syracuse University.

Abbott said the state has a "constitutional right to defend itself," and Texas National Guard members still have been erecting barriers of razor wire this week.

"Despite having been put on notice in a series of letters — one of which I delivered to him by hand — President Biden has ignored Texas’s demand that he perform his constitutional duties," Abbott wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

DeSantis said the southern border is the "easiest soft underbelly the country has" and said it was a way for criminals to enter the country.

"A state just wants to enforce federal law, and somehow they're all of a sudden the bad guy?" he said. "This country, we've been turned upside down with some of this. There's just no common sense anymore."

According to TRAC, the majority of ICE detainees, about 67%, do not have a previous criminal record, though many have minor offenses, like traffic violations.

As of last December, there were over 3.2 million immigration cases pending in the federal courts, with the most backlogged cases in Miami-Dade County.

From the News Service of Florida: Bill would allow DeSantis to send Florida State Guard outside of the state

More: New immigration law sparks fear and worker exodus from Florida

The News Service of Florida contributed background. Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis wants to send Florida Guard to Texas to 'stand up' to Biden