According to the Miami Hearld, a criminal inquiry into Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to transport about 50 Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last week has been launched in Texas. Many migrants said they decided to travel from San Antonio to the Massachusetts island after being promised work, and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said his agency is looking into whether the migrants were the victims of a crime, claiming they were “lured under false pretenses.” However, there was no waiting job.
According to Salazar, “I think individuals ought to be held accountable for it to the degree feasible.” “At this time, I’m unable to say with certainty which statutes—federal, state, or local—they broke, but I can assure you that they did something unlawful. Simply from the standpoint of human rights, what was done to these people is reprehensible.
WRITER’S NOTE: There’s a way to do it and there’s a way not to do it. Texas Governor Gregg Abbott has been pushed to the background as so many are giving DeSantis all the shine. Word is that the original idea to even send to Martha’s Vineyard came from Donald Trump, who is not happy that DeSantis has picked off another idea from him. We give credit to Abbott as he has been highlighting the hypocrisy of the Sanctuary Cities. DeSantis had migrants brought in from Texas so he could send to Martha’s Vineyard.
Despite the fact that the group of Venezuelans was in San Antonio, DeSantis accepted responsibility for the two charter flights last week, claiming they were a part of a state initiative to remove migrants from Florida.
Democratic politician Salazar, who did not mention DeSantis, termed the flights “political spectacle.”
Additionally, he stated that his office was collaborating with advocacy organizations and a private lawyer for the migrants, and that it was ready to collaborate with federal agencies “should the necessity arise.”
Jeremy Redfern, the deputy press secretary for DeSantis, declined to respond when prompted.
Instead, he sent an email with a copy of a news article that said, “Bexar County Sheriff Salazar says Biden administration’s handling of immigration “isn’t working.”
The migrants claimed that misleading information was used to entice them to travel to Martha’s Vineyard.
Many said that “Perla,” a lady, contacted them outside a San Antonio migrant help center and offered them jobs and support if they took a flight to Massachusetts. Since island officials weren’t ready for their arrival last Wednesday, those promises of employment and other prospects turned out to be untrue.
Additionally, the migrants were given booklets that stated they might get financial aid and job opportunities once they arrived. The Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants’ phone number and website were listed on the pamphlets. The flyers, which were sent to the Herald by Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Boston-based legal organization that represents some of the migrants, were not printed by the office, according to that office.
Salazar said that the probe may extend to Florida despite the fact that “Perla’s” complete identity and affiliations have not yet been made public.
The sheriff stated that if someone is in Florida and needs to be transported here to face justice, it is currently simply paperwork.
The identities of “persons of interest,” he claimed, had been collected by investigators, but he declined to reveal them just yet.
The migrants entered the country legally after presenting themselves to American officials after crossing the border in Texas and requesting asylum.
According to DeSantis, the flights were paid for by Florida public funds intended to drive immigrants out of the state. Despite the fact that the aircraft made a refueling stop in Florida’s Panhandle, all of the migrants boarded in San Antonio, which is in Bexar County.
Transporting migrants from Texas with funds from Florida seems to go against the state budget’s language that approved the $12 million initiative.
The Florida Department of Transportation was directed to use the monies “to assist the transfer of unlawful aliens from this state” by the budget, which was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature with the support of the majority of Democrats.
The aircraft, according to DeSantis, were a method of catching migrants before they got to Florida.
The Miami Herald was not informed by any of the migrants who crossed the border on Sunday near Eagle Pass, Texas, that they intended to proceed to Florida. Most people, though, wished to go to New York.
They talked of their perilous voyage to the United States and their uncertain future once there. None of them had the $50 it would cost to take the bus to the closest city, San Antonio. Advocates claim that makes them simple pickings for con artists.
