SANFORD, FL—A Florida-chartered plane holding 14 U.S. citizens is set to return tonight from the collapsing and gang-ridden Haiti, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
"A plane carrying passengers has left Haitian airspace and is on the way here to Sanford Airport. This will be the first of probably many flights to bring [back] people—U.S. citizens—who are in harm's way," DeSantis said at a Sanford press conference.
He spoke outside the Central Florida airport that will receive the citizens at 6:45 PM today, some of whom are children and families stuck in the Caribbean country for weeks on end.
This is DeSantis' second time brokering rescue flights to foreign nations. In October, the Florida Governor issued an executive order to retrieve over 700 Americans from war-torn Israel after the terrorist group Hamas slaughtered thousands on October 7th.
"We did it in Israel. We had a little bit more help in terms of coordination with the Israeli government than we do right now with what's going on in Haiti," DeSantis said Wednesday.
On February 29th violence broke out in Haiti. Gangs targeted airports and shipping ports before leading a massive prison break of Haiti's two largest detention facilities. 4,000 inmates escaped, including notorious gang leaders, murderers, and kidnappers.
A few days later, U.S. airlines canceled flights to Haiti, marooning all Americans visiting the country.
This first Florida-sponsored plane to retrieve stranded U.S. citizens adds to the first U.S. government rescue flight on Sunday night, which brought 47 Americans back to Miami.
It's now estimated that over 300 Florida citizens and 400 U.S. citizens are currently stranded in Haiti.
