Trump administration says it has no immediate plans to send migrants to Florida

close

Video

Overwhelmed border facilities send migrants to other cities for processing

Deputy Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection Robert Perez weigh in on the influx of migrants at the southern border.

The Trump administration, on Saturday, appeared to back away from a plan to send migrants to two Florida counties as Gov. Ron DeSantis, spoke out against the decision.

Customs and Border Protection reportedly said on Saturday that it had no plans "at this time" to place migrants in two Democratic, South Florida counties -- Broward and Palm Beach.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw responded to the news by indicating that resistance to the decision helped prompt CBP to change its mind.

"Because of everybody's efforts, we are able to stop what had appeared to be a crisis for our community," he said.

ICE TO HIRE CONTRACTOR TO TRANSPORT 225,000 MIGRANTS TO SHELTERS ACROSS THE US

While it's unclear what exactly CBP intended to do, it reportedly said there was a misunderstanding when it tried to explain "contingency" plans to local officials. Those plans apparently included potentially sending hundreds of migrants each month to those counties.

Fox News has reached out to the White House for comment.

San Diego faced a similar predicament as U.S. officials announced that as many as three flights a week could arrive, carrying hundreds of migrants to the city.

The controversy came as the Trump administration and Congress struggled to house an influx of immigrants who, according to U.S. law, could only remain in federal custody for a limited period of time.

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN: EVERY TOWN IS A BORDER TOWN UNTIL WE SECURE THE SOUTHERN BORDER

Back in April, Trump provoked congressional inquiry when he proposed sending migrants to sanctuary cities.

“Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only,” Trump tweeted.

But DeSantis, who received notice on Thursday about the potential influx of migrants, suspected the decision didn't come from Trump.

"This was not something that came down from the White House. This was something that came out of the agency. Sometimes this stuff happens. It's gonna ultimately be something I'm going to have to talk to the president about," DeSantis, a major Trump supporter, said during a press conference on Friday.

He said that the decision would "tax our resources, the schools, the health care, law enforcement, state agencies."

DESANTIS: FLORIDA 'CANNOT ACCOMMODATE' INFLUX OF MIGRANTS EXPECTED FOR PROCESSING

Democratic state Sen. Gary Farmer, who represents part of Broward, reportedly blasted the decision as "blatant politics."

“The blatant politics, sending them to the two most Democratic Counties in the state of Florida, is ridiculous,” he said.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who previously served as the state's governor, asked the administration about the issue but also blamed, via a spokesperson, Democrats for refusing to fix the border crisis.

“There were almost 99,000 apprehensions at the southern border in April, more than double the number of apprehensions in January,” spokesperson Chris Hartline said, according to Politico.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump, on Friday, proposed a reform that would focus on bringing in high-skilled labor but Democrats have already criticized the plan, indicating they won't let it get to his desk.

As the White House Congress debated the issue, CBP released data shwoing that more than 100,000 people were apprehended or turned away at the southern border in April. And according to one analysis, 2019 could see the highest border apprehension numbers -- generally considered an indicator of illegal crossings -- in 13 years.