Florida officials are sounding an alarm about the Trump administration's plans to follow through on his sick fantasy of dumping thousands of migrants and asylum seekers on Democratic communities. Officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties, which are Democratic strongholds, say they are the target of Trump's plan, and that as many as 500 people a week could be dropped in their communities with no federal support for housing, food, education, or security.
The officials said they should "expect the arrival twice a week of 135 asylum seekers, rerouted from the El Paso area. That is equivalent to about 1,000 people per month, divided between the two counties." The arrivals could happen as soon as next week and as of now will continue indefinitely.
This has even Republican Trump supporters like Gov. Ron DeSantis worked up, since he and other Florida lawmakers have apparently been kept in the dark until now.
"We want a better plan from our federal government," said Palm Beach County Mayor Mack Bernard, a Democrat at a news conference. "The blatant politics, sending them to the two most Democratic Counties in the state of Florida, is ridiculous," state Sen. Gary Farmer told Politico. "You can't make this stuff up."
Law enforcement isn't happy, either. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Thursday that he had been informed by a Border Patrol chief based in Miami of the plan and communicated his concerns to Florida's congressional delegation. "No accommodations for shelter or a place to live," Bradshaw said. "Just no real plan on what’s going to happen to these 500 people every month that's going to come to Palm Beach County and be released into our community."
"We will do everything possible to help these people," Broward County Mayor Mark D. Bogen said in a news release. "If the President will not provide us with financial assistance to house and feed these people, he will be creating a homeless encampment." He also suggested that the county could take those needing shelter "to the Trump hotels and ask the President to open his heart and home as well." Mar-a-Lago is right there in Palm Beach County.
Published with permission from Daily Kos.
