Staff Reports
The Gov. Ron DeSantis administration has announced another rescue mission landed from Haiti with evacuees who could not return home due to the ongoing political crisis.
The Division of Emergency Management (DEM) has successfully brought 21 more Americans home from Haiti. To date, 35 Americans have been rescued by state-coordinated emergency flights.
“The Division is working around the clock through every available avenue to get our residents home,” said Division Executive Director Kevin Guthrie. “Governor DeSantis directed us to tackle every challenge in our path and not stop until the mission is complete.”
According to a DEM press release, citizens have access to numerous resources from state agencies, private sector partners, and volunteer organizations, after landing in Orlando including meals and water; lodging; transportation; basic health and medical screenings; care supplies for infants, toddlers, seniors and pets; a family reunification center; “Hope” navigators, mental health counselors and therapy dogs; a children’s activity center; phones, SIM cards and charging stations; and ID replacements through a mobile Florida License on Wheels (FLOW) center.
The first flight landed in Orlando Wednesday night. DeSantis had previously launched what he called Operation Vigilant Sentry, in which he deployed a force of 250 — more than half of them Florida State Guard — to prevent Haitians from making it to Florida’s shores.
Moreover, DeSantis announced on Sean Hannity’s radio show last week he is considering calling the Legislature back to Tallahassee for a Special Session relating to Haiti and broadening law enforcement’s authority to arrest and detain border crossers.
3 comments
Ron
March 25, 2024 at 10:09 am
So he is only rescuing white people?
Jim Brown
March 25, 2024 at 10:12 am
Haiti’s history is so sad particularly given its natural beauty. A relative of mine was apparently nearly murdered on more than one occasion by the Tonton Macoutes in the 1970s during what appeared to be a botched coup by the CIA in Port au Prince intended to topple Duvalier Junior.
If you are as intrigued as I am by Haiti and have fond memories of the Hôtel Oloffson in Port au Prince, Cap Haitien and even the slums in Cité Soleil, you should enjoy reading the fact based spy novel Beyond Enkription in TheBurlingtonFiles series.
However, if you think spy novels can only be written by John le Carré you may not appreciate this sui generis work. Nevertheless, it has been heralded by one US critic as “being up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”.
No matter what, being fact based, Beyond Enkription is so realistic that it is hardly surprising it is allegedly mandatory reading on some countries’ intelligence induction programs.
David
March 25, 2024 at 2:39 pm
Orlando has a sizable Haitian population so allowing innocent refugees to escape harm in Haiti by sheltering among like-minded Hatians in Orlando makes sense. In years past the United Nations would have dispatched an international peace-keeping force to restore order. I wonder why this remedy is no longer being used?
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