In what the White House and residents of the resort enclave called a “political stunt,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took credit for the two flights. Tracking website FlightAware said they were from San Antonio, Texas. A Martha’s Vineyard airport official said the planes were carrying about 50 migrants, mostly Venezuelans. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up A Venezuelan immigrant who identified himself as Luis, 27, said he was promised a flight to Massachusetts, along with shelter, support for 90 days, help with work permits and English lessons. He said they were surprised when their flight landed on an island. He said the promises came from a woman who gave her name as “Pearl” who approached his family on the street outside a San Antonio shelter after they crossed through Mexico and were released by U.S. border officials on a date immigration court. He said the woman, who also put them in a hotel, did not give a last name or any relationship, but asked them to sign a liability waiver. “We are afraid,” he said, adding that he and others felt they had been lied to. “I hope they help us.” Residents of Martha’s Vineyard, a small island south of Boston, rallied to help the bewildered immigrants and offered shelter at the Episcopal Church of St. Andrews, which is sometimes used as a homeless shelter in the winter. Martha’s Vineyard is best known as a summer retreat populated mostly by affluent liberal Americans, including former President Barack Obama, a Democrat who has a multimillion-dollar vacation home there. Locals stopped to offer the migrants monetary donations and children’s toys, while lawyers mobilized to offer free legal aid. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said the state is considering setting up a temporary shelter on nearby Cape Cod. “It’s a trick to make political points and not care who gets hurt,” said Mike Savoie, 58, a nurse at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. DeSantis, who is seeking re-election in November and has been mentioned as a possible 2024 presidential candidate, told a news conference that US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, “refused to lift a finger” to secure the border. Migrants gather after being transported from Texas on a flight sponsored by Florida Governor Ron DeSandis in Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S., September 15, 2022. Vineyard Gazette/Newsletter via REUTERS. read more “We’ve been working on innovative ways to be able to protect the state of Florida from the impact of Biden’s border policies,” he said. Since this spring, the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona have bused thousands of migrants across the border to Democratic strongholds like Washington, New York and Chicago. On Thursday, two buses sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, another Republican facing re-election, dropped off immigrants in a Washington neighborhood near the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris. Volunteers awaiting their arrival at another location said they had no warning. Biden, speaking at an event organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, accused Republicans of “playing politics with people, using them as props.”

Several Democrats, including Charlie Crist, DeSantis’ opponent in Florida, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, called on federal authorities to investigate the incident, saying it showed a lack of humanity. Massachusetts Attorney General Rachel Rollins said at a press conference that her office would “review the case” and speak with the Department of Justice. Florida’s use of resources to move immigrants from Texas to Massachusetts raises legal concerns, including what information was given to immigrants before they boarded planes and whether they were coerced, immigration law expert Pratheepan Gulasekaram of the university’s law school told Reuters. Santa Clara. The Florida Legislature has appropriated $12 million to transport immigrants from the state to other locations, DeSantis spokeswoman Taryn Fenske said. U.S. border agents have made 1.8 million immigration arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border this fiscal year, which began last October. Many have repeatedly crossed over and are being quickly deported to Mexico or other countries under a public health rule implemented in 2020 to limit the spread of COVID-19. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and other immigrants cannot be deported because Mexico will not accept them or because they received exemptions from the deportation order and are allowed to enter the United States to apply for asylum. read more Many immigrants released from US custody in border states seek to move elsewhere to join relatives or find work. They often have to check in with US immigration authorities or attend court hearings to gain legal status. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Jonathan Allen in Martha’s Vineyard, Rich McKay in Atlanta and Ted Hesson in Washington. Additional reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago, Andrea Shalal and Mike Scarcella in Washington, Nate Raymond in Boston and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco. Editing by Mica Rosenberg, Aurora Ellis and David Gregorio Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.