Photo: John Moore/Getty Images
Today’s entry: If all of these border crossers are coming to Florida what happens when they get here? Also, any idea how many?
Bottom Line: Today’s note is in response to Governor DeSantis’ recent trip to the southern border in Texas to visit the 50 Florida law enforcement professionals assisting with the border crisis at the behest of Texas Governor Gregg Abbot. While on the trip Governor DeSantis said, "They’ve made over 2,000 apprehensions, over 100 felony arrests, and they say almost 70 percent of everybody they have interdicted said their ultimate destination was the state of Florida". I’ll tackle the second part of your question first. How many? In real-time, we don’t know. Like all government agencies, information is always backward-looking. The most recent reports estimate 6,000 people per day attempt to cross into this country.
In June, according to a Texas Border Patrol Sector Chief, 17% of border crossers are caught and released. That’s comprised of 15% of individuals and a whopping 65% of families. So, if around 6,000 people are crossing per day and 17% of them are being caught and released, you have 1,020 undocumented migrants per day gaining access to the United States. Be mindful these are just the people who’re accounted for.
What we do have an idea of, courtesy of the Center For Immigration Studies, is what happens with those who are caught and released. CIS, led by investigative reporter Todd Bensman, documented and followed the Biden administration's processing of those being caught and released.
- Step 1:COVID-19 testing
- Step 2: Legal documents are provided including commonly a “notice to appear” to an immigration hearing to determine asylum status
- Step 3: They’re transferred to nongovernmental organizations who assist with arrangements
- Step 4: If those arrangements include a non-local destination they arrange for funds for travel (most commonly bus fare)
- Step 5:Quoting CIS, "they disappear”
They also found that Cuban, Haitian, and Venezuelan border crossers were most often sent to Florida. Nicaragua and other Central American countries were most often sent to Tennessee and those staying in Texas were most commonly sent to Dallas and Houston. Lastly, other states they documented migrants being sent to included Arizona, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky.
So, it’s safe to say that what happens at the border isn’t staying at the border and importantly for Floridians, we’re apparently at the forefront of the southern border crisis. CIS’s investigation generally supports the assertions by Governor DeSantis based on his briefing last weekend. The question then becomes, what happens from here? Just as DACA was an Obama executive memo, which flouted US immigration laws, it would appear President Biden is creating his own grouping of migrants lacking status but putting down roots which one might infer is part of a larger plan to issue blanket amnesty down the line.
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