MARTIN COUNTY — An unknown number of migrants from U.S. camps along the border are expected to arrive in Indiantown and other parts of Martin County in the near future, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said.

“If they do come, I think the responsible thing for us to do would be to get to the community and make it known that law enforcement here in America is here to protect people’s rights and to take care of people and that we’re not their enemies,” Snyder said.

He said Thursday afternoon he got a call from a U.S. border patrol agent who told him U.S. Immigration and Customs is expecting an unknown number of migrants from the southern border and they could go to Indiantown because they have family in the area.

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The Trump administration is preparing to move hundreds of migrants from overcrowded camps along the U.S. border to Broward and Palm Beach counties.

The border patrol agent told Snyder about 1,000 people are expected to arrive at Palm Beach International Airport "in the near future" and disperse from there.

The main message Snyder wants to send to migrants is that law enforcement is not their enemy.

"We have a community patrol policing unit that is very well-versed in policing the different special interest groups in Martin County and the minorities and we will make some kind of effort to check in with these people, maybe provide some information to them on law enforcement and what law enforcement in America means," he said.

Snyder said he feels there’s no advantage for the agency to make the migrants afraid of law enforcement.

The only specific area in Martin County the border patrol agent mentioned is Indiantown, Snyder said, but there could be other areas the agent didn't mention.

"We have Hispanic communities throughout Martin County and there's several neighborhoods with sizable Hispanic populations, so this could be anywhere in Martin County," he said. "Once they get to Palm Beach International (airport) they can go anywhere they want."

Snyder said he thinks sending "undocumented aliens into an unprepared community is not the way immigration should be conducted."

Snyder said the Sheriff's Office is prepared for any situation that might arise, but he's not sure what the impact will be.

"If it's 20 people or 30 people it's nothing we can't deal with, but we have no idea how many people will be coming," he said.

St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office officials said they have not heard of anything changing as a result of the migrants coming to nearby counties and as of Thursday afternoon, they are not doing anything differently.

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Maj. Eric Flowers, a spokesman for Indian River County Sheriff's Office, said the agency was in contact with border patrol but did not expect any of the transplants to reach the area.

"If there was some indication they were coming here, obviously at that point we'd make plans," Flowers said. "Until we hear otherwise, we'll be standing by."

Thursday morning, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted the Palm Beach and Broward County sheriff's offices are expected to see about 500 migrants a month coming into the two counties beginning next week.

Broward Mayor Mark Bogen told The South Florida Sun Sentinel about 135 people each week will be brought in by plane in about two weeks. One half of the migrants are expected to go to Palm Beach County and the other half are expected to go to Broward County.

Snyder said he feels this situations is an example of "Congress letting America down."

"I think if we get hundreds of undocumented aliens, our calls for service are going to go up," he said. "I mean, that's just the way life is, but we will rise to the occasion. I'm not intimidated."

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Staff reporter Eric Rogers contributed to this story.