Ron DeSantis.Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty
FloridaGov. Ron DeSantissayshe is responsiblefor sending two planes of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, following in the footsteps of conservative governors in Texas and Arizona, who have sent bus-loads of migrants to Washington, D.C. in recent months.
Orlando news station WESHreceived a statementfrom DeSantis' office confirming that the two planes “were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.” Boston station WCVB reports that the Florida Legislatureappropriated $12 millionfor the program.
According to Cyr, there was “no advance notice” given to anyone in Massachusetts.
“The island scrambled to respond,” he told the network. “They essentially set up shelters, the equivalent of a hurricane or Nor’easter. They set that up in a matter of hours and these families received a meal. They were Covid tested and are spending the night in shelters at several churches on the island.”
NPR reports that the migrants weretold they were traveling to Boston, and that the flight “originated in San Antonio, made a stop in Florida and then another stop in South Carolina before flying on to Martha’s Vineyard.”
Some of the group told NPR that they were approached outside a shelter and lured into boarding the plane with promises of expedited work papers.
Massachusetts state Sen. Dylan Fernandes told NPR that flying the migrants to another state was akin to transporting “cattle on an airplane.”
“Ship them women and children to a place they weren’t told where they were going and never alerted local officials and people on the ground here that they were coming,” Fernandes told NPR. “It is an incredibly inhumane and depraved thing to do.”
It is unclear exactly where the migrants came from before traveling to Martha’s Vineyard — one of New England’s most expensive places to live, where median home sale priceshovered at around $1.3 million in April.
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DeSantis' shuttling of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard comes as other Republican governors have done the same: moving refugees out of their states and to Democrat-led areas, as a public push from conservatives against PresidentJoe Biden’s border policies.
Texas Gov.Greg Abbottclaimed responsibility for a similar stunt on Thursday, in which two buses of migrants arrived at the US Naval Observatory — Vice PresidentKamala Harris' residence in Washington, D.C. CNN reports that the volunteers who staff the observatory were surprised at their arrival, andhad not been previously notified. CNN reports that the majority of those migrants came from Venezuela, according to volunteers.
Abbott, who isrunning for reelectionthis year, announced in April that he was busing migrants from the Lone Star State to the Big Apple.
“This is horrific, when you think about what the governor is doing,” Adams said at the time.
The mayor added that some of the migrants had no choice but to travel to New York. “Some of the families are on the bus that wanted to go to other locations, and they were not allowed to do so. They were forced on the bus,” he said,according to Politico. “Our goal is to immediately find out each family’s needs and give them the assistance they want.”
In May, Arizona’s Republican Gov. Doug Duceymade a similar move, sending migrants from his state’s southern border to Washington, D.C., as well.
According to a news release, theArizona-to-D.C. bus tripswere voluntary, and would “include meals, and onboard staffing and support.”
source: people.com
