Rep. Curbelo Issues Statement on Visit With President Trump

KEY WEST, Florida, April 19 -- Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Florida, issued the following statement on the visit to Joint Interagency Task Force-South with President Trump:

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Today, Representative Carlos Curbelo (FL-26) joined President Donald Trump on a visit to Key West, Florida. Curbelo traveled with the President aboard Air Force One from West Palm Beach to Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West. After greeting local officials, they travelled by motorcade to the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-South) for a classified briefing about the work being conducted at the facility.

"I am grateful for the President's visit - the first one ever by a sitting President to the Joint Inter Agency Task Force-South. JIATF-South is a critical facility that brings together the military, law enforcement, and our partners in the region to fight criminal organizations engaged in drug and human trafficking and other illicit activities. The men and women of JIATF-South work intensely to keep our country safe, and I'm pleased the President took time to learn about their mission and thank them.

"I also appreciated the opportunity to travel with the President and his team. I was able to stress to him the importance of finding a compromise on immigration that protects young immigrants brought to our country as children and also strengthens border security.

"We discussed FEMA's role in hurricane recovery, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, and as we were arriving at our destination I shared with the President that sea level rise is increasingly a concern in the Keys and throughout South Florida."

BACKGROUND

This was the first time a sitting President visited JIATF-Sout. Today was Curbelo's second visit to the facility. Information about JIATF-South's mission is available here (https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.jiatfs.southcom.mil_About-2DUs_&d=DwMF_g&c=L93KkjKsAC98uTvC4KvQDTmmq1mJ2vMPtzuTpFgX8gY&r=YsblkF3u3f9RvHk6X6UKaTnQR077fDcJa4TVrwt9Aqs&m=dW07H2sGeZJRRvxqrrs5RZlCgYUx5E3IZVpZoyS7Y9g&s=YCW374qNCZeJ0Bk_wG9nB_Dq3Ktrw64W_W5uWCoje7I&e=).

This was Curbelo's third time traveling with a sitting President aboard Air Force One. He previously flew with President Barrack Obama to visit Everglades National Park for Earth Day in 2015 and with President Trump and the rest of the South Florida Congressional delegation last year to announce the Administration's new Cuba policy.