A group of House Republicans representing the Sunshine State have urged President Joe Biden to use the U.S. Navy to intercept Haitians attempting to enter the country by sea as the Caribbean nation descends into anarchy.
Earlier this month, Haitian gangs stormed the prisons and freed roughly 3,700 inmates, leading to an uptick in violence across the country. Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has since resigned and there is no effective government in the country at present.
Writing to Biden, Florida GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz, Gus Biliarakis, Anna Paulina Luna, and Daniel Webster urged Biden to declare an "anticipated mass migration of aliens en route to, or arriving off the coast of, the United States," to be a situation necessitating federal action. Such a move, they said, is "necessary to reinforce the State of Florida’s efforts by utilizing Department of Defense vessels to conduct maritime interdictions and interceptions of aliens from Haiti and repatriate them."
"We urge you to engage the necessary assets to conduct maritime interdictions and interceptions of Haitians under 46 U.S. Code § 70051 and Executive Order 13276 and repatriate them to Port-au-Prince, Haiti," they further wrote.
The group specifically pointed to testimony from U.S. Southern Command's General Laura Richardson in which she advocated for use of Department of Defense assets to interdict the maritime arrivals.
Last week, Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the deployment of additional personnel to the state's southern coast to aid federal authorities in dealing with the expected surge in maritime entries.
"For quite some time, the State of Florida has been dedicating significant resources to combat illegal vessels coming to Florida from countries such as Haiti," he said. "Given the circumstances in Haiti, I have directed the Division of Emergency Management, the Florida State Guard, and state law enforcement agencies to deploy over 250 additional officers and soldiers and over a dozen air and sea craft to the southern coast of Florida to protect our state."
Related Story: Florida Seizes Boat Carrying Haitian Illegals and Firearms, DeSantis Says
