Friday March 15, 2024, Republican Senators from Florida Marco Rubio and Rick Scott sent an open letter to the White House demanding to know its "plan to deal with the significant unrest in Haiti and prevent this humanitarian and security crisis from having a direct negative impact on American families in Florida and across the United States."

With nearly 5,000 Haitian prisoners escaped from Haiti's two main prisons https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41847-haiti-news-zapping.html and https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41793-haiti-flash-the-national-penitentiary-stormed-many-prisoners-escape-chaos-in-the-capital-video.html including many and dangerous criminals, the 2 senators question "If individuals from Haiti arrive in the United States, how will your administration guarantee that no criminals are granted entry into the interior of our country ?"

While awaiting an unlikely response from the Biden administration, the State of Florida has launched its own response. "Operation Vigilant Sentry" is designed to prevent all Haitians fleeing Haiti from making landfall and finding refuge in Florida, with 250 men deployed, more than half of whom (133) belong to the Florida State Guard.

In addition to this contingent the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will deploy 39 additional officers, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will deploy 23 additional officers with 8 watercraft, the Florida National Guard will deploy 48 additional guards with four helicopters, and the Florida Highway Patrol will assign 30 additional officers with a plane and drones for surveillance.

Separately, the Division of Emergency Management also launched a support portal for Floridians and other Americans stranded in Haiti amid a new wave of major domestic unrest https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41895-haiti-flash-assistance-portal-to-help-floridians-and-americans-trapped-in-haiti.html

To visit this portal : https://www.floridadisaster.org/Haiti

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41895-haiti-flash-assistance-portal-to-help-floridians-and-americans-trapped-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41877-haiti-crisis-florida-border-agents-on-high-alert.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41793-haiti-flash-the-national-penitentiary-stormed-many-prisoners-escape-chaos-in-the-capital-video.html

SL/ HaitiLibre