Biden jokes that Ron DeSantis should visit Delaware because ‘we have a beautiful shoreline’

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Ron DeSantis should come visit Delaware as ‘we have a beautiful shoreline’ and defended criticism that the southern border has been overwhelmed by migrants under his watch. 

The president gave a jovial response when asked about the Florida governor’s decision to send migrants to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach. 

‘He should come visit. We have a beautiful shoreline,’ he offered to DeSantis, a Republican.

Biden also defended the record number of migrants entering the United States under his presidency. U.S. authorities made more than 2 million immigration arrests along the southern border in the past 11 months, marking the first time that number has been reached.

The president said the heavy influx of immigrants were people escaping authoritarian regimes in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

‘There are fewer and fewer immigrants coming from Central America and from Mexico. It’s a totally different circumstance. What’s on my watch now is Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, and the ability to send them back to those states is not rational. You could send them back and have them — we’re working with Mexico and other countries to see if we can stop the flow. That’s the difference,’ he said.

Migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba accounted for more than one-third of those taken into custody along the  border last month, according to Customs and Border Protection, which is a 175 percent increase over August of last year.

 Meanwhile, DeSantis last week sparked a spectacular escalation in the ongoing immigration war between the Republicans in charge of the border states and Democratic officials in so-called ‘sanctuary cities’.

The Florida governor flew about 50 migrants in Texas to Martha’s Vineyard – a wealthy conclave of liberal East Coast elite. The local Texas sheriff opened an investigation into the legality of the move.

DeSantis also has paid for charter flights to send migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington D.C. and, on Tuesday, reports emerged he was sending a planeload full of them to Biden’s home state of Delaware.

Masses of media, volunteers, priests and government employees gathered at the Delaware Coastal Airport, which is around a 20 miles drive to Biden’s vacation home in Rehoboth Beach.

The Director of Communications at Delaware Health and Social Services Jill Fredel told members of the press gathered on the airport tarmac in the sweltering Tuesday afternoon soon that they had no inside information on an impending flight.

Instead, she informed the press: ‘We have heard and seen the reports that all of you have seen, and we are here at this space to support people who might arrive in Delaware.’

‘We have no reports of anyone arriving at this point, but we do have those preparations ready,’ she added.

‘The answer is ‘no’, that the governor’s office has not received any updates from either Texas or Florida,’ Fredel said when asked if Delaware Governor John Carney’s office was in contact with the governors of Florida or Texas.

The White House has blasted the transportation of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and Delaware as a political stunt and charged DeSantis with using the migrants as pawns.

‘Let’s remember these folks are fleeing communism,’ press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Tuesday’s briefing. ‘When you think about Venezuela, what’s going on in Venezuela, when you think about what’s going on in Nicaragua, you think about what’s going on in Cuba. They are fleeing persecution, only to be used as a political pawn by the Florida governor.’

She added of DeSantis: ‘His only goal is – as he’s made it really clear – is to create chaos, and use immigrants fleeing communism as political pawns.’

A spokesperson for Carney refused to comment on the prospects of the flight being a political stunt.

‘We’re looking at this from the humanitarian side of things and we will do what we can do to support, if and when they come,’ Carney’s communications director Emily David told DailyMail.com.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said during Tuesday’s press briefing the migrants were fleeing ‘repressive dictatorships.’

‘I think the American people need to understand that a significant part of the reason why we’re seeing an increase in the number of people who are coming to America southwestern border, is because people are fleeing three repressive dictatorships. Cuba, Venezuela, in Nicaragua, and citizens in those three countries are struggling under the weight, the yoke of the repressive governments of these countries and they are trying to get out,’ he said Tuesday.

Reports and flight logs put the plan of migrants landing in Biden’s home state around 2:30 p.m. – but by mid afternoon there was still no flight.

Carney’s spokeswoman David said: ‘We’re aware of the reports, and continue to prepare for the possibility of migrants arriving in Delaware unannounced.

‘Our teams at DEMA and DHSS are working with community organizations and other partners to make sure that migrants who arrive here have the support that they need.

‘We are coordinating with Federal officials and are prepared to welcome these families in an orderly manner as they pursue their asylum claims.’

The plane had started its journey from Longview, in Texas, before heading to San Antonio, and then Crestview, in Florida.

An hour after landing on the coast of Delaware, the plane is set to head to Teterboro airport in New Jersey.

It is the same aircraft which headed from San Antonio, to Crestview and then on to Martha’s Vineyard on September 14.

Republicans have stepped up their attacks on the Biden administration as they try to make immigration the theme of November’s midterm elections.

Lt. Gov Jeanette Nunez declared over the weekend that DeSantis’ administration is planning to send any illegal migrants from Florida to Delaware.

DeSantis has accused critics of his move to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard of ‘virtue signaling’, saying their concern for the welfare of the migrants was a ‘fraud’.

He said: ‘The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they go berserk, and they’re so upset that this is happening.’

The 50 migrants were put on a bus by Gov. Charlie Baker less than 48 hours after landing, and given a police escort to get a ferry to Joint Base in Cape Cod 32 miles away from Martha’s Vineyard.

Lawyers for 30 of the Venezuelan Migrants flown to the affluent island last night called for a criminal probe into DeSantis, accusing him of ‘falsely promising them jobs and immigration help.

He is accused of ‘preying’ on the migrants, with DeSantis saying the migrants knew where they were going having signed waivers.

Last night Democratic Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, from Texas, announced that he would be launching an investigation into whether the migrants were  ‘kidnapped’ by DeSantis.

He claimed there was criminal activity involved – before rowing back and saying he was keeping an ‘open mind’ during a press conference on Monday night.

DeSantis furiously slapped down the claims, pointing out the hypocrisy of the Texas sheriff after 50 migrants died in a trailer-tractor over the summer in his jurisdiction.

A representative for Gov DeSantis did not immediately respond to request for comment from DailyMail.com.

On Monday more than the number of migrants arrested at America’s southern border soared past two million for the first time in history.

The record, revealed in Customs and Border Patrol records compiled at the border, comes amid a continued influx in Texas, Arizona, and California that has left local towns at breaking point.

The figures show a spike this spring, with 241,000 law enforcement encounters, with numbers staying above 200,000 each month since even after a drop. The total was 203,000 in August.

The Florida Governor sent the migrants to billionaires enclave Martha’s Vineyard after Texas Gov Greg Abbott sent buses of the illegal immigrants to the door of VP Kamala Harris last week.

He sent 151 people on buses outside of her home in the Naval Observatory in Washington DC, in the ongoing war over the border.

Harris declared in an interview that the borders were ‘secure’ just days before Abbott sent the latest wave of people in his campaign against so called ‘sanctuary cities’.

Abbott has bussed in thousands of migrants who crossed the border into Texas from Mexico to New York, Washington DC and Chicago in the past few months.

President Biden branded the republican governors as ‘unAmerican’ for the way they were playing political games with migrants.

The GOP leaders say they’re keen for liberals who espouse ‘sanctuary cities’ to experience the full effects of uncontrolled immigration, which has hit Texas border cities including Del Rio and El Paso very hard.

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, wrote to the Department of Justice to request that DeSantis be investigated for kidnapping.

In a letter to Merrick Garland, the attorney general, he said he was ‘horrified at the images of migrants being shipped on buses and planes across the country to be used as political props.’

He wrote: ‘I urge US DOJ to investigate whether the alleged fraudulent inducement would support charges of kidnapping under relevant state laws, which could serve as a predicate offense for charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) provisions of the Organized Crime Control Act.’

Other Democrats have slammed the ‘Republican blueprint’ of sending migrants to other cities with little warning, with New York Mayor Eric Adams slamming it as ‘inhumane’ and branding Abbott as a ‘rogue’ Governor.

On Wednesday, Adams admitted that shelters in the Big Apple are at ‘breaking point’ after the Texas Gov bused nearly 11,000 people into the city.

Abbott recently clashed with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the decision, with Lightfoot branding him as a ‘racist’.

She sparked outrage last week after deciding to move migrants from Chicago to a neighboring Republican suburb.

Of the 147 migrants who arrived last Wednesday, Lightfoot ordered 64 of them to be taken to a Hampton Inn hotel in Burr Ridge, where they will be housed for at least the next 30 days.

Republican Mayor of Burr Ridge, Gary Grasso, directed his anger at Lightfoot and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker for using the migrants as ‘political pawns.’

Mayor Muriel Bowser, of Washington DC, last week declared a public emergency over the buses continuing to arrive from Texas and Arizona.

It will set aside funding to accommodate migrants as well as create the Office of Migrant Services (OMS).

The OMS will provide temporary accommodation, urgent medical needs, transportation and other services for those arriving.

Bowser has twice asked that the National guard be activated to assist with the thousands of migrants arriving at the capital, but they have both been denied by the Pentagon.

Brianne Nadeau, a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, has slammed the governors of Texas and Arizona for the city’s public migrant emergency.

At the same time as these new arrivals, humanitarian crisis is deepening in the Texas border town of El Paso.

Nearly 1,000 migrants have been released to sleep on the streets amid a surge of illegal crossings that is overwhelming Border Patrol facilities.

Border Patrol facilities and shelters in the west Texas town have been overwhelmed in recent days, leading to a flood of so-called ‘street releases’.

Congressman Tony Gonzalez, a GOP US Representative, said: ‘We’ve never seen anything like this. It’s a scene that you would see in a third-world country, not in the streets of El Paso.’

It has led to scenes of misery, with hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets without access to toilets or showers, and residents say that the ‘smell of human waste is overwhelming in the area.’

The situation in El Paso comes after the Biden administration officially extended special protections for Venezuelans, known as Temporary Protected Status, that shield some of them from deportation.

Migrants in Eagle Pass, 450 miles east along the border, were also reported to have killed a guard dog and begun eating animals in desperation.

Just shy of 200,000 illegal immigrants were intercepted crossing the southern border in July, according to the most recent CBP figures available.