Director: 5 Florida State Guard members deployed to Texas border

TALLAHASSEE — Five members of the Florida State Guard have been deployed to Texas to fight what Gov. Ron DeSantis has called an “invasion” on the southern border, and about 30 more troops are on standby, Director Mark Thieme told members of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on Monday.

Thieme, whose confirmation as head of the State Guard was backed by the committee, said the State Guard members are working with officers of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Those agencies, along with the Florida National Guard and the Florida

Highway Patrol, have been working in Texas along the Mexico border since May.

Florida law requires the State Guard to remain in the state unless another state asks for help, which Texas has not done, Thieme told the committee. But more members are at the ready.

“We still think we may send about a platoon level, that’s about 30 folks, that may provide support to checkpoint operations, distributed logistics, support to public safety, whether on land or on water,” Thieme said. “But nothing at this point in time, to be clear, beyond the five soldiers that we currently have deployed to Texas. There have been no formal requests made by the state of Texas, nor received and validated by the state of Florida for subsequent deployment.”

On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said an additional 76 members of the Florida Highway Patrol and 50 members of the National Guard were being deployed to Texas.

Since May, more than 700 Florida National Guard members, 200 Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents, over 100 Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles officers and 20 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers have rotated to Texas as part of the operation. The Highway Patrol is part of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

State officials have refused to comment on the cost to taxpayers so far.

DeSantis on Feb. 1 announced plans to send the Florida State Guard to Texas, which is putting up razor wire along the Rio Grande in defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court order that said border security is the responsibility of the federal government.

The authorized size of the State Guard was expanded from up to 400 members to 1,500 members last year, and the Legislature increased its funding from $10 million to $107.6 million, including covering the costs of five aircraft and boats.

Earlier this month, Thieme put the State Guard’s active membership at about 170. Thieme said State Guard members are being trained as a “professional soldiering organization,” yet “no one within my agency is preparing for combat.”