As the U.S.-Mexico border sees a record number of illegal border crossings, the state of Florida is also seeing an increase in undocumented migrants, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
CBP data for December 2023 shows agents in Florida have reported nearly 30,000 encounters with undocumented migrants.
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During the same timeframe in 2022, reported encounters numbered only 8,765. That means there has been a roughly 240% increase in the number of encounters.
According to CBP officials, these encounters include apprehensions, inadmissible migrants and those being expelled back to their home country due to public health concerns.
Since October 2020, the number of recorded encounters in Florida has been as follows:
The CBP explained that the number of encounters was much lower in the previous fiscal years due to pandemic-era health orders that pushed down on immigration.
CBP officials said of the nearly 9 million encounters in the U.S. reported since October 2020:
- Nearly 67% were single adults (5,941,732)
- Nearly 28% were in a “family unit” (2,476,121)
- Around 5% were unaccompanied minors (476,799)
- Less than 1% were accompanied minors (18,052)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday the state would be sending up to 1,000 soldiers from the state’s National Guard to Texas to help with border security efforts.
This isn’t the first time, either; the state has been sending troops to the border since the start of Operation Lone Star in 2021.
Since then, state officials told News 6 that Florida troops have made contact with nearly 150,000 undocumented migrants and helped the Texas Department of Public Safety with around 2,700 arrests. Several of those arrests involved charges of human smuggling, burglary and child endangerment, state officials said.
Eagle Park in Texas has become one of the busiest places for border crossings, causing the town’s mayor to declare an emergency after nearly 6,000 migrants crossed from the Rio Grande River within two days.
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However, some migrants were injured by the razor wire, and the Biden administration said that the wire impedes Border Patrol agents from reaching migrants as they cross the river.
As such, Border Patrol agents were instructed to cut the wire, though Abbott said he wouldn’t allow them into the town’s Shelby Park, with court documents claiming the agents had assisted migrants in their journey across the border.
While a district court held up Abbott’s actions in his legal battle, a Supreme Court order earlier this month paused that court’s injunction, meaning that federal agents could no longer be stopped from destroying the wire.
Despite that, Abbott said that Texas would continue to repair and replace barbed wire along the border to mitigate further illegal crossings.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, governors and attorney generals from 25 other states — including Florida — declared they would back Texas in its border efforts.
Illegal immigration in Florida has been a major policy driver for DeSantis in recent years, with Florida lawmakers passing a new rule last year that would issue fines to businesses found hiring undocumented workers.
Critics have said the law could raise costs for goods and services, as businesses would have to shift to more expensive legal workforces.
Meanwhile, economists have argued that the law would drive up wages for low-skilled legal workers, and reduce the demand for many goods and services in the state — which translates to lower prices.
In addition, law enforcement officials in Florida have blamed the so-called “porous” border for the amount of fentanyl coming into the state.
Aside from the National Guard, Florida has also sent law enforcement agents to Texas from the Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
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