The Florida State Guard could be deployed to Texas in support of Governor Greg Abbott if a bill introduced to the Sunshine State’s legislature this month is passed into law.
Governor Ron DeSantis revived the Florida State Guard in 2022 with an initial 400 soldiers, though the following year its maximum size was increased to 1,500. Unlike the much larger Florida National Guard, the State Guard can’t be federalized, resulting in one critic branding it DeSantis’ “private army.”
House Bill 1551 was introduced to the Florida House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Giallombardo and on Thursday approved by a House subcommittee in an 11-3 vote. It removes the requirement “that Florida State Guard be used exclusively within state,” meaning it could theoretically be deployed elsewhere in the U.S. In the subcommittee meeting, Giallombardo confirmed when asked by a Democratic lawmaker that the legislation would allow the State Guard to be deployed to a border state, such as Texas.
Giallombardo said if the bill passed the Florida State Guard would only be deployed to other states based on mutual agreement, commenting: “They can’t just send [the guard] into somebody else’s state without the state asking or the state knowing.”
JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/GETTY
Tensions in Texas have surged in recent weeks over Abbott’s efforts to block illegal immigration from Mexico, which have included ordering the Texas National Guard to deploy razor-wire along the border.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled federal authorities can remove this wire, sparking a furious response from Abbott, who in an open letter branded the migrant influx into Texas an “invasion” and invoked “Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself.”
On Thursday 25, Republican governors released a statement expressing “solidarity” with Abbott adding: “Texas has a constitutional right to defend itself and the nation.” In a post on his Truth Social website Donald Trump, by some margin frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, urged “willing states” to deploy their National Guards to Texas “to prevent the entry of illegals, and to remove them back across the border.”
During an appearance on Newsmax, Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin Stitt branded the situation in Texas a “powder keg” and suggested several GOP run states, including his own, could send troops to Texas.
He commented: “You’ve got Oklahoma and Florida and Tennessee and you’ve got all these other states that would send our National Guard to help and to support the efforts of Governor Abbott, because every state is a border state.”
Newsweek has contacted the office of DeSantis, asking whether he would consider deploying the Florida State Guard to Texas if House Bill 1551 is approved.
The Texas National Guard continued placing razor-wire along the Texan-Mexican border after Monday’s ruling, sparking calls from some Texas Democrats for the body to be federalized, placing it directly under the authority of President Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Should this happen, the pro-independence Texas Nationalist Movement is urging Abbott to dramatically expand and militarize the Texas State Guard, which like its Florida counterpart can’t be brought under federal control.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.