Illegal migration is a hot topic in the Sunshine State, especially after Governor Ron DeSantis won a lawsuit against the federal government over its policies that encourage undocumented migrants to enter the country. Here are some facts and figures.
- According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Florida ranks fifth among all states in terms of contacts with illegal immigrants, with 57,816 contacts between October 2022 and February 2023. This is more than the total number of contacts in the previous two fiscal years combined.
- The majority of illegal migrants in Florida come from four countries: Venezuela (19,442), Cuba (12,840), Haiti (6,344), and Ukraine (4,201). However, most of those who are apprehended are Cubans (4,398), while very few Haitians (349), Ukrainians (0), and Venezuelans (0) are detained.
- On March 8, 2023, a federal judge ruled in favor of Florida in a lawsuit against the United States, blaming the federal “Parole and Alternative to Detention” policies for enticing foreign nationals to cross into the U.S. illegally under the belief that they would eventually be released into the country. Florida claimed that over 100,000 of those migrants have been released into the state, causing a rise in the cost of public services such as education, incarceration, unemployment benefits, and emergency Medicaid.
- In March alone, two large groups of migrants arrived by boat in the Florida Keys, one with 122 people and another with about 300 people. Both groups were mostly Haitian nationals. They were intercepted by law enforcement and taken into custody for processing, and their ultimate disposition is unknown.
For more, see the Palm Beach Post.