Three years after Gov. Ron DeSantis first announced he was sending dozens of troopers from Florida's Highway Patrol (FHP) to Texas to help combat illegal immigration into the United States, financial records we obtained through a public record request provide a glimpse at how much FHP's deployment to the Lone Star State is costing the Sunshine State.
During a 10-month period between July 2023 through April 2024, records show Florida's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), which oversees FHP, spent at least $13.5 million on expenses, including gas, vehicle maintenance, airfare and overtime.
Earlier this year, during a news conference announcing another 76 troopers were headed to the Southwest border, DeSantis touted his Texas mission and Florida's long-term commitment there.
"We're going to continue to be in this fight until the problem is solved, and we need to have the problem solved. American security depends on it. American lives depend on it," DeSantis said while surrounded by state troopers before they were deployed.
Additional details of FHP's spending were provided in expense records over a nine-month period between July 2023 and March 2024. During that period, FHP spent more than $12.5 million on its mission along the Texas-Mexico border.
Those expenses included:
- Nearly $80,000 on "general" expenses such as dry cleaning and uniforms
- Nearly $750,000 on gas, vehicle maintenance, general fleet supplies, and a few new vehicles including two SUVs and a truck. Records show all three vehicles were equipped with more than $10,000 in upgrades, including special lighting, gun racks, and a prisoner partition
- Nearly $900,000 was listed as "general travel" and included meals, airfare, and lodging. Although the hotel stays included in FLHSMV’s data appear to be limited. (We asked the department about its lodging data but have not heard back)
But the single largest FHP expense over those nine months was for personnel, which totaled just under $11 million and did not include the troopers' regular salary.
A monthly look at overtime expenses shows Operation Lone Star is offering FHP troopers a lucrative opportunity to earn more money. The average salary for a state trooper in Florida is about $50,000 per year and among the lowest nationwide.
Records show there were multiple troopers deployed to Texas who earned well over $10,000 per month in overtime pay.
Records show one trooper netted nearly $26,000 in overtime pay and logged 503 hours just for the month of February. Those figures mean that the trooper worked more than 17 hours each day of the month.
We reached out to the FLHSMV for clarity and accuracy on these figures, but a department spokesperson did not respond to our inquiry by the time this story was published.
Paul Novack, a South Florida attorney and member of the Florida Highway Patrol Advisory Council, said Florida is dealing with a critical shortage of state troopers.
"There are some incentives there, but you also have to realize deployments like this rip our troopers away," Novack said.
For months, Novack has been writing commentaries about the state's shortage of FHP troopers and the need to pay them more.
"We have far too few troopers, and those numbers are not going up. There's a hiring freeze in effect. The next academy class has been canceled, and we're losing troopers by attrition because they're going to better-paid agencies," Novack told us recently.
So, does he believe it's a responsible use of funding to send FHP troopers to Texas?
"I think that if our politicians make a political decision to deploy troopers off the highway, they need to make a budget decision to pay for it," Novack said. "They need to make a budget decision to adequately staff for it, which means a lot more troopers than what we have now."
According to Florida's Division of Emergency Management, which is leading the state's mission in Texas, 50 FHP troopers are currently deployed in Texas.
Since last year, when FHP sent its first squad of troopers to the border, Florida troopers have "made contact with" more than 153,000 illegal immigrants and assisted with more than 3,000 arrests, according to the latest figures provided by a department spokesperson.
Back in February, DeSantis praised state efforts along the southern border as working.
"What's been happening in Texas has been effective. You’ve seen the numbers go down because you have Texas putting forth huge efforts and then all these other states are coming by," he said.
Including Florida, which is spending millions to be a part of it.
A news release issued last year said Florida would be eligible for some FEMA reimbursements for its assistance in Texas. The state has not provided answers on whether they've applied for or received any of that federal money.
