Democrats slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for allegedly deceiving roughly 50 migrants so as to get them to board planes that they didn’t know were certain for Martha’s Vineyard.
DeSantis took credit for sending two planes full of migrants from Venezuela and Colombia to the Massachusetts island on Wednesday. He and other Republican governors hope to make use of the relocation of migrants out of their states as a method to drum up attention to the White House’s immigration policies, The Associated Press reported.
The flights, which DeSantis claimed were paid for by a state program, began in San Antonio and made stops in Florida and the Carolinas before arriving in Martha’s Vineyard, NPR reported. Nevertheless, the migrants told the radio network that a girl who called herself “Perla” persuaded them to get on the plane and said they’d receive expedited work papers after they arrived in Boston.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said short-term shelter was provided for the migrants who arrived in Martha’s Vineyard.
Democrats condemned the Florida governor’s actions, calling them a political stunt.
Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) told WPRI-TV that DeSantis had misused public resources to pay for the flights. He also claimed island officials told him that a videographer was onboard considered one of the planes.
″[DeSantis sent the migrants] so he could use it for his own advantage after which his paid-for political spokesperson was immediately taking credit, if you wish to call it credit, for doing something that was clearly a political stunt,” Keating said.
Keating later said the stunt wasn’t even original and referred to laws introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) last yr that aimed to send migrants to latest ports of entry, comparable to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
“That is clearly what it was, it’s quite transparent, it’s quite obvious and for Florida taxpayers, [it’s] extravagant, only for [DeSantis’] own political end.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the move by DeSantis “inhumane” on Thursday.
“Republican governors… using migrants as political pawns is shameful, it’s reckless, and just plain fallacious,” Jean-Pierre said.
