Immigrants sent to US East Coast island file complaint against Florida governor

A case was filed against the governor on Tuesday, the 20th Florida, Ron DeSantisHe accused them of tricking 50 migrants into flying them to the island. Martha’s VineyardIn the northeast AmericaLast week.

Collective Action – Brought Massachusetts The migrant rights group Alianza Americas and three Venezuelans who were part of the group – say the migrants were taken from shelters. Texas With false promises of work and help.

In addition to the promises, immigrants received $10 McDonald’s gift cards before boarding the charter flight. The move assumes that this approach was undertaken to attract migrants. “In seeking proper ways to obtain legal immigration status from the United States, they suffered the same cruelty as fleeing their own country,” the text reads, citing Venezuela’s social crisis.

DeSantis, who is gearing up as a possible GOP presidential candidate in 2024, has completed the feat of bringing Texas immigrants to the luxury island of Martha’s Vineyard.

The lawsuit alleges that he and several Florida officials “impermissibly interfered with the federal government’s exclusive control over immigration to advance an unlawful purpose and personal political agenda.” The settlers were caught in a growing dispute between Republican governors and Democratic officials in border states.

In Texas, a sheriff, identified as Javier Salazar, He launched a criminal investigation to investigate possible irregularities in the flights.

“They had a right to walk the streets like me and you, and they had a right not to be tricked, taken for a fool and transported halfway across the country because of a media stunt,” the Democratic sheriff said. “It’s a tragedy.”

Venezuelan migrants taken to Martha’s Vineyard said they traveled for more than two months and crossed the dangerous Strait of Darien before continuing through Central America and Mexico.

In interviews with reporters, they described being approached in San Antonio by a well-dressed woman who introduced herself as Perla; He offered gift cards to fast food restaurants and offered to take them to a “sanctuary” in Massachusetts.

After the immigrants unexpectedly arrived at Martha’s Vineyard, volunteers and staff welcomed them with food and clothing and housed them in a local church. A few days later, the migrants boarded buses for temporary shelter at a Cape Cod military base.

DeSantis communications director Darrin Fenske said in a statement that the migrants were ready to leave Bexar County after being abandoned. “Florida gave them the opportunity to pursue ‘greener pastures’ in ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’ and it gave them more resources,” he said.

In Massachusetts, immigrants “were given shelter, food, clothing and other options to succeed in America after being wrongly lured, unlike the 53 immigrants who died in an abandoned truck in Bexar County in June.”

The sheriff said he has not ruled out the possibility of working with state and federal authorities on the criminal case. He added that his office has yet to interview the immigrants who are now on the East Coast, and has mainly been in touch with one of the attorneys representing them.

The sheriff, who has been heavily critical of the Republican response to illegal immigration, insisted his decision to launch the investigation was not politically motivated. “It’s doing the right thing,” he said. /AFP, NYT