DeSantis claimed credit for a pair of chartered flights Wednesday that carried about 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, as part of a broader Republican effort to shift responsibility for border crossers to Democratic leaders. At a news conference in Daytona Beach, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blamed Democratic President Joe Biden for what he portrayed as a failure to stop migrants from crossing the US-Mexico border, as 1.8 million have been apprehended this fiscal year. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up DeSantis said the Florida Legislature has appropriated $12 million to transport immigrants out of the state and that his administration will likely use the funds “to protect Florida.” “There can be more flights, there can be buses,” he said to cheers and applause from supporters in the crowd. The state paid $615,000 to Vertol Systems Company Inc, an aviation business, on Sept. 8 as part of an “unauthorized alien relocation program,” Florida state records showed. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The flights to Martha’s Vineyard follow a busing effort by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, another Republican, that has sent more than 10,000 migrants to the Democratic-controlled cities of Washington, New York and Chicago since April. Arizona’s Republican governor has also sent more than 1,800 immigrants to Washington. Unlike those big cities, the island south of Boston is home to about 20,000 year-round residents and is known as a vacation spot for wealthy liberals like former Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. read more On Friday morning in Martha’s Vineyard, the migrants, a group of mostly Venezuelans, including half a dozen children, boarded buses en route to a ferry to Cape Cod on a transfer organized by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican . He said they will be temporarily housed at a Cape Cod military base. The scene left some of the islanders who volunteered to shelter them in a church for two nights in tears. Locals had gathered to donate money, hygiene items and toys for the migrants. A local thrift store donated clean clothes, restaurants hosted rotating meals, and pro-choice lawyers flew in to help immigrants with paperwork and immigration cases. “I want them to have a good life,” said Lisa Belcastro, who helped organize cribs and supplies at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, which sits among expensive white-clad houses in Edgartown. “I want them to come to America and hug me. Everyone wants to work.” Immigrants from Venezuela stand outside St. Andrew’s Church in Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S., September 14, 2022. Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
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DeSantis, who is running for re-election in November and is often mentioned as a possible 2024 presidential candidate, said his administration moved the immigrants from Texas, rather than his home state, to the island of refuge because many of the immigrants who they arrive in Florida coming from Texas. Aside from DeSantis and Abott’s re-election bids, November’s midterm elections will determine whether Democrats retain control of Congress. Many immigrants who cross into the United States through the southwest border are immediately deported to Mexico or other countries as part of a political COVID-19 pandemic. However, some nationalities, including Venezuelans, cannot be deported because Mexico will not accept them, and many seek to apply for asylum in the US. The White House has denounced the efforts by Republican governors, saying the immigrants are being used in a political ploy. “These were kids. They were moms. They escaped communism. And what did Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott do to them? They used them as political pawns, they treated them like scumbags,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. press briefing on Friday. The legal basis for the Florida government’s rounding of immigrants to another state remained unclear. US government lawyers are exploring possible appeals over the governors’ efforts, a Biden administration official told Reuters. The migrants who flew to Martha’s Vineyard said they had recently been admitted to the United States on humanitarian parole after fleeing Venezuela and were staying at a shelter in San Antonio, Texas, when they were approached by a woman who identified herself as “Perla. “ The woman convinced them to board the flights by tricking them into believing they were headed to Boston and that she would provide them with shelter and help finding jobs for three months, they said. Many said they told the people who arranged the flights that they had appointments with immigration authorities to attend in other cities, said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, a group in Boston that helps immigrants. “The organizers of this plan said, ‘Don’t worry, this will be taken care of,’” he said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Jonathan Allen in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts and Rich McKay in Atlanta. Additional reporting by Ted Hesson and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco. Edited by Mica Rosenberg and Jonathan Oatis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
