Martha's Vineyard: Criminal Probe Opened; Migrants Sue Fla. Gov.

Facts

  • On Monday, Texas Sheriff Javier Salazar announced that his office has opened a criminal investigation into Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' decision to send 48 migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, Mass. last week.
  • In a news briefing, Salazar claims that the migrants — all reportedly Venezuelan — were “lured” from a migrant resource center into traveling to Martha’s Vineyard “under false pretenses.”
  • Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), a Boston-based legal advocacy group, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the migrants on Tuesday, challenging what it called a “fraudulent and discriminatory” plan.
  • According to the filing, the migrants were falsely led to believe that they would be flying to Boston or Washington DC., and nobody was prepared for their arrival in Massachusetts.
  • DeSantis has denied that any laws were broken and has pledged to continue with a new $12M program to relocate illegal immigrants to so-called "sanctuary jurisdictions."
  • DeSantis has modeled his program on a similar one started by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, who has sent thousands of migrants from his state to Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.

Sources: CNBC, Independent, Guardian, and NBC.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Business Insider. Governors who are sending migrants to liberal states are committing crimes against humanity. Vulnerable asylum-seekers are being used as political pawns and trafficked across the country in a misguided bid to oppose Biden's immigration policies and gain political points. This must stop now.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by American Thinker. DeSantis has one-upped his Republican colleagues to both share the burden of illegal immigrants and expose the hypocrisy of the coastal elites. Residents of places like Martha’s Vineyard advocate for these people to be allowed in the country as long as they don’t settle in their city. Now maybe Democrats will take this issue seriously.