An elected Democratic Texas sheriff launched an investigation Monday into the migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard that Florida governor Ron DeSantis organized, accusing the DeSantis administration of hiring people to deceive the migrants into boarding the flights.
“They were lured by promises of a better life with the knowledge they could cling to whatever they were offered just to be exploited and hoodwinked,” Sheriff Javier Salazar told San Antonio Express-News. He claimed a migrant was paid a “bird dog fee” to recruit 50 others around San Antonio’s Migrant Resource Center to take the journey.
He struggled to specify which law had been broken but said the act of “political theater” violated the illegal immigrants’ human rights,” according to the publication.
While the sheriff has not yet named suspects, investigators have discussed the matter with Boston-based attorney Rachel Self, who is representing some of the migrants, to try to determine the conditions under which the 50 arrivals agreed to go to the affluent Massachusetts enclave.
DeSantis, who authorized the flights, which were included in a previous funding package approved by the state legislature, told Erick Erickson on Monday that the 50 migrants signed agreements to be transported to the island and received maps showing where to receive various services. He said everyone who took the trip voluntarily boarded the plane.
DeSantis aides clarified to NewsMax that the migrants who traveled to Martha’s Vineyard were “homeless, hungry…wandering.” They were given meals and showers, notified of the planned destination, and were given “multiple” chances to remain in Texas, they said.
Some media outlets have accused the DeSantis administration of baiting the migrants, saying they believed they’d secure job opportunities from the trip, but the aides assured that none were promised employment. Some migrants have “communicated their thanks” for the help, they said.
After hearing of the Bexar County probe, DeSantis officials reminded local officials of their poor record with immigration human rights and management, citing a case this June when 53 migrants died after being trapped in a truck on a hot day in San Antonio. Four of those victims were minors.
“Unless the MA national guard has abandoned these individuals, they have been provided accommodations, sustenance, clothing and more options to succeed following their unfair enticement into the United States, unlike the 53 immigrants who died in a truck found abandoned in Bexar County this June,” DeSantis communications director Taryn Fenske retorted in an email sent to Fox News.
DeSantis’ office has reiterated that Martha’s Vineyard has touted itself as a sanctuary for migrants. Besides pledging not to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sanctuary cities typically also provide shelter, food, healthcare, and other provisions.
“Immigrants have been more than willing to leave Bexar County after being abandoned, homeless, and ‘left to fend for themselves.’ Florida gave them an opportunity to seek greener pastures in a sanctuary jurisdiction that offered greater resources for them, as we expected,” Fenske said.
After only about 24 hours on the luxury island, the migrants were shipped out again to a Cape Cod military base after Martha’s Vineyard officials said they were overwhelmed by the arrivals. Republican Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker deployed over a hundred National Guard members to assist with the situation.
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