About 50 people sent to island in 2022 in DeSantis’s ‘relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations’
A group of migrants who were sent to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022 by Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, can sue the plane company that transported them, a federal judge has ruled.
In a ruling issued last Friday, the US district judge Allison Burroughs said that the migrants who were shuttled from Texas to the wealthy liberal island in Massachusetts can proceed with their legal claims against Vertol Systems, the plane company which was contracted by Florida to carry out the flights.
The 77-page ruling, which also named DeSantis, Florida’s transportation secretary, Jared Perdue, and other state officials as defendants, said that the Venezuelan migrants and the immigrant rights group Alianza Americas “sufficiently alleged” multiple claims including “civil rights conspiracy” and “civil conspiracy”.
is the program really to transport “illegal” migrants?
Yes. US immigration currently has the lowest maximum number of permits in the history of the country, set at, I think, 3,000 per year under Trump. I might be misremembering an extra zero there, because at first I wanted to say 300. There are tens of thousands of people at the border trying to get into the country, many desperate enough to enter illegally.
This specifically was DeSantis being upset at a bunch of liberal states declaring themselves “sanctuary states” that wouldn’t deport people, so he sent this group by plane to an island of wealthy liberals to be spiteful and hoped it would piss off the rich. It did not. But they, or the state, happily told them their rights and that they could sue after getting them housed.
I think Texas did something similar where they sent a bunch of migrants by bus to another sanctuary state?
There are ways to legally enter the US without being an immigrant. I appreciate your insight into immigration but I was asking if these people were actually “illegal”
You know, when I wrote that, I was like 90% sure, but the more I think about it, the less sure I am.
I live not too far from Martha’s Vineyard, so while I’m not intimately familiar with the situation, it was close enough to be “local news”, and thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the group referred to as anything other than just “migrants.” We’re very familiar with migrant workers here, as they make up a large potion of the summer workforce for tourist season (I think mostly from the Dominican Republic?), and it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that they were here legally on work visas or something. Though it’s not an Operation Wetback situation, I wouldn’t be shocked if those people considered any kind migrant worker/other visa holder as “illegals”.