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The sheriff of a Texas county where 53 illegal aliens were found dead in a truck during a fatal people smuggling operation in June has opened an investigation into the 48 asylum seeking illegal immigrants flown from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said the investigation will look into the suspected activities of a Venezuelan being paid a “bird dog fee to recruit” the illegal immigrants from an area around a San Antonio migrant resource center to go to Florida.
“As we understand it, 48 migrants were lured—and I will use the word ‘lured’—under false pretences into staying at a hotel for a couple of days,” Salazar said at a press conference.
“At a certain point they were shuttled to an airplane where they were flown to Florida and eventually flown to Martha’s Vineyard, again under false pretences, is the information that we have,” he added.
Salazar said that on the promise of work and further assistance they were taken to Martha’s Vineyard “for little more than a photo op, video op” and “unceremoniously stranded” there.
Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter it is working with private attorneys for the victims and advocacy organizations as part of its investigation, as well as getting ready to cooperate with federal agencies which have concurrent jurisdiction.
Taryn Fenske, the communications director for Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, rejected Salazar’s accusation, saying the illegal immigrants were “more than willing to leave Bexar County.”
Further, she asserted that foreign nationals are being “enticed to cross the border” into the United States.
