TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The state of Florida has paused a program that sent migrants to other parts of the country because it was not getting enough volunteers.
Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said the state has spent about $700,000 looking for people in Florida to voluntarily relocate, but have not found enough.
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“We know that the number-one intended destination for individuals coming out of Haiti, Venezuela, Guatemala, Cuba, is Florida,” Guthrie said. “What’s unfortunate about this situation is trying to find actual volunteers inside the state of Florida that want to relocate to somewhere else. That number is really, really small.”
The DeSantis administration made waves in 2022 when it flew 49 Venezuelan migrants from San Antonio in Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. The migrants claimed they were promised work and housing opportunities.
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Florida used taxpayer dollars from a “relocation program” in 2022 to transport the migrants.
Earlier this month a federal judge ruled the migrants can sue the charter flight company that transported them, as well as Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The state also transported migrants in June of 2023 from Texas to Sacramento, California.
DeSantis, who at the time was still running for president, touted the move as a way to help with an American problem and blamed “sanctuary communities” across the country for supporting migrants.
Supporters of the program defend it by claiming that undocumented migrants who cross the border often end up in Florida and put a financial burden on the state.
In 2023, the Florida Legislature revamped the program and allocated $12 million in the state budget to carry out a “program to facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens from this state.”
Guthrie said the state was reevaluating the program.
“Where do we go next? Is it back to the southwest (Texas) border? Is it, you know, here in Florida? How do we start to move more people that want to be moved? But even if we’re at the southwest border, it is voluntary to go to the cities that the governor and the staff have identified,” Guthrie said.
Information from News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
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