Several immigrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, last week filed a federal class-action complaint against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and others in federal court Tuesday.
DeSantis’s administration arranged for about 50 immigrants to be flown out of Texas into Martha’s Vineyard last week in a jab at Democrats over the influx of immigrants across the southern border. The plaintiffs claim they were duped into taking the flight under false pretenses and suffered harm that “at a minimum exceeds $75,000.”
TEXAS SENDS TWO BUSLOADS OF MIGRANTS OUTSIDE HOME OF KAMALA HARRIS
“Defendants and their unidentified accomplices designed and executed a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme centered on exploiting this vulnerability for the sole purpose of advancing their own personal, financial and political interests,” the class-action complaint says.
“Destitute, stranded, and immensely vulnerable, the individual Plaintiffs and class members were faced with an uncertain situation in an unfamiliar location. They were left in the dark, with nothing, on a tarmac on an island,” the filing continues.
The plaintiffs filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts under the pseudonyms Alianza Americas, Yanet Doe, Pablo Doe, and Jesus Doe. They describe themselves as immigrants who fled Venezuela before surrendering themselves to U.S. authorities. They insist they are legally permitted to remain in the United States until they receive due process.
At some point in September, officials approached them and offered them items like $10 McDonald’s gift certificates and promises of “employment, housing, educational opportunities, and other like assistance upon their arrival” upon their arrival in Martha’s Vineyard, the suit alleges.
Instead, they were dropped off with no food or coordination with the local government. The suit notes that the “ruse” cost roughly $615,000. Local authorities later moved the immigrants off the island enclave to a military base for support.
DeSantis’s office shrugged off the suit as “opportunistic” and countered that the flights to Martha’s Vineyard were done on a “voluntary basis” to give “homeless, hungry, and abandoned” immigrants a “fresh start in a sanctuary state.”
“It is opportunistic that activists would use illegal immigrants for political theater. If these activists spent even a fraction of this time and effort at the border, perhaps some accountability would be brought to the Biden Administration’s reckless border policies that entice illegal immigrants to make dangerous and often lethal journeys,” his office wrote in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“It was disappointing that Martha’s Vineyard called in the Massachusetts National Guard to bus them away from the island within 48 hours,” the statement added.
The Florida governor has since defended the migrant transport, throwing shade at local Massachusetts officials for “deporting” the immigrants the next day while stressing that the immigrants in Texas may have had Florida in their sights. He has also insisted they were given a packet of information and signed consent forms.
“Millions of people since Biden has been president illegally coming across the southern border. Did they freak out about that? No,” DeSantis told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “It’s only when 50 get put into Martha’s Vineyard, which wasn’t saying they didn’t want this. … They said they were a sanctuary jurisdiction.”
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar has vowed to investigate the immigrant transport to Florida. DeSantis, a rising GOP star and possible 2024 contender, is also rumored to be sending another load of immigrants to Delaware near President Joe Biden’s home Tuesday.
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In recent months, Republican governors have begun moving immigrants from border locations to Democratic strongholds. Detractors have accused them of weaponizing immigrants and exploiting them for political gain. Supporters argue the move gives Democrats a taste of the immigrant influx that border cities and towns have endured over recent months.
Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) bused over 100 immigrants to a bus stop near Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence at the Naval Observatory. The Lone Star State has sent nearly 10,000 immigrants to locations such as Washington, D.C., Chicago, and New York City since April. Recently, border arrests topped a record 2 million for the first time in a fiscal year.
