Forty-eight Venezuelan migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard last month by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are eligible to apply for U visas, a form of immigration status reserved for victims of certain crimes that happen within the United States.
That’s according to a Democratic sheriff in Bexar County, Texas, who has now agreed to certify that the 48 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard last month were possible victims of “Unlawful Restraint.”
“Based upon the claims of migrants being transported from Bexar County under false pretenses, we are investigating this case as possible Unlawful Restraint (TX Penal Code 20.02),” Sheriff Javier Salazar told the Washington Examiner on Thursday in a statement.
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Such visas require a law enforcement officer to sign the application before they can be forwarded to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Rachel Self, a Boston-based attorney who has been aiding the migrants’ immigration cases, recently flew to San Antonio to acquire the needed signatures from Salazar’s office.
“These certifications will ensure that the migrants can continue to help our law enforcement officials, and that they will be able to process and heal from the incredibly traumatic experiences they have suffered as a result of the cruel, heartless act committed against them,” Self told GBH News in a statement Thursday.
Self added that she has been coordinating with Salazar to allow the 48 migrants to be available for interviews with the sheriff’s organized crime division to provide evidence such as videos and images to aid the investigation.
Salazar’s office also told the Washington Examiner it has identified suspects in its investigation but would not release names publicly at this time. His investigation into DeSantis began on Sept. 20, while a separate investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department is also underway to examine whether the Florida governor improperly allocated federal COVID-19 funds to pay for the flights.
“Only those who were physically in our jurisdiction at the time of the offense are considered suspects,” Salazar added.
DeSantis’s decision to send migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, an insulated island community commonly known for being home to wealthy liberals, was seen as a partisan response to President Joe Biden‘s handling of the U.S.-Mexican border crisis, which has seen more than 2 million migrant encounters this year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
The Florida governor has maintained he did not commit any crimes and that migrants signed consent forms before boarding private flights.
Migrants who arrived at Martha’s Vineyard last month had a brief stay before they were given temporary shelter in Cape Cod, and many have moved on since.
Although the 48 migrants might now have a shot at obtaining U visas, the process could be long before they are granted approval. Department of Homeland Security data show 285,000 U-visa petitions are pending as of the fiscal year 2021, and Congress has imposed rules that set a capacity for visas at 10,000 per year. Upon approval for U visas, migrants are also required to wait three years to apply for a green card and five more years for citizenship.
Other Republicans, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, have engaged in transporting migrants from Texas to other Democratic-controlled states in an effort to amplify pressure against Biden’s immigration policies.
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Abbott’s moves have prompted the Democratic mayors of both New York City and Washington, D.C. to declare emergencies due to the flow of undocumented immigrants to these urban areas.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Rachel Self for comment.
