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As several migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard this week claim they were lured onto a plane with deceptive promises, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s political ploy has raised a number of legal questions, with some critics drawing comparisons to kidnapping.
About 40 to 50 Venezuelan migrants arrived on the island via two chartered planes and have since been offered shelter at Joint Base Cape Cod.
In a media release Friday, DeSantis’s office doubled down on Florida’s immigration relocation program.
“Florida is not a sanctuary state,” the DeSantis administration stated. “We will continue to facilitate a program to assist the transportation of illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities and states across the country.”
State Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod, said in a statement that the community “moved heaven and earth” to welcome and care for the migrants.
However, “It is now apparent that these migrant families were misled — indeed manipulated — into embarking on this journey,” he added. “Capitalizing on vulnerable families, who are simply seeking a better life, for a political stunt is disgusting.”
But was there a crime? Nonprofit representing migrants: ‘Our clients were lied to’
Speaking about the transport during the Globe Summit Friday, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said her office will be taking guidance from the Department of Justice and will be “looking long and hard … to see any and all legal action that we might be able to take.”
“I have already reached out to the Department of Justice to get some guidance, because we are not the only entity or location where this has happened,” she said.
