Gov. DeSantis hands off big piece of Haiti rescue mission to State Department

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 3/8/24-Gov. Ron DeSantis talks about the close of the 2024 Legislative Session during a news conference, Friday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

Teamwork makes the dream work when it comes to the ongoing mission to bring Floridians back from a Caribbean country in crisis.

Ron DeSantis’ press shop is announcing that the federal government will be assuming a greater role in a Haiti mission ballyhooed by the Florida Governor in recent weeks, with old complaints that Washington isn’t helping out enough mostly (but not totally) in the rearview mirror.

The Division of Emergency Management “provided the U.S. Department of State with Florida’s completed Haiti Assistance forms, so other Americans could be connected with a federally coordinated flight home,” announced the Governor’s Office.

The media release fleshes out comments DeSantis recently made.

“Now you have more State Department involvement in that and, which is really how it should be, right? I mean, it’s odd, it’s not the norm to have a state going into Israel … or going into Haiti (and bringing back) its citizens,” he said during a Monday press conference in Miami.

DeSantis added that “if there are going to be big State Department flights, that hopefully will take care of most of the remainder,” though he also contended Florida “stepped up and filled the void” of federal inaction.

Florida taxpayers have paid thus far to retrieve 220 Americans from Haiti. The Governor’s Office says 95% of them are Floridians, suggesting that the money was spent by and large on residents, though there has been nothing approaching disclosure yet regarding the operation’s hard costs to retrieve “Christian missionary groups” from Haiti.

As we have noted repeatedly, the Israel evacuation flights last year cost Florida taxpayers $19 million, as the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

And despite the seeming handoff of much of the operation, DeSantis’ comments Tuesday continue to suggest defiance of the sort that plays well in friendly interviews.

“Even when the federal government fails to act, Florida will always step up,” the Governor said.

It’s worth noting also that Florida-funded evacuees got a better deal than those on federal flights, who will be “stuck with the bill.”

“Our mission is not something that we’re charging these people for. I think the federal government has done some, they’re charging people just like they did out of Israel,” DeSantis said last month. “That’s not what we’re doing.”