Azmi Haroun
Fri, September 16, 2022
Migrants who were flown to Martha's Vineyard with little information say that they were conned.
According to Reuters, some of the migrants aboard the flights said a woman paid them $200 to go.
The woman did not give her last name and approached migrants outside a San Antonio shelter.
Some of the migrants who red state governors flew to Martha's Vineyard for political purposes said that they were duped by a woman who approached them outside of a San Antonio shelter and paid them to board an airplane with no information as to where it was headed.
On Wednesday, 50 undocumented migrants arrived on the island of Martha's Vineyard after the governors of Florida and Texas sent them to Massachusetts in a highly antagonized move. The Venezuelan and Colombian migrants boarded two planes in San Antonio, which stopped in Florida on their way to the east coast, and which the Florida governor confirmed that his administration paid for and chartered.
Some of the migrants told Reuters that a woman named "Perla" approached them, paid them $200, and helped put them up in a hotel the night before she led them to the chartered flights with promises of a better life.
Luis, a Venezuelan migrant who was approached by the woman after arriving in San Antonio, said that she also made them sign a liability waiver and did not share her last name.
"We are scared," Luis told Reuters, adding that the group felt like they were conned. "I hope they give us help."
Others told Reuters that they were promised jobs and help resettling once they arrived, but were not told where they were headed.
A spokesperson for DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Florida has siphoned $12 million in public funds to coordinate the migrant flights, according to Reuters.
DeSantis' spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the trips were related to Florida's "relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations," a similar policy that Abbott has pushed since April, busing migrants from Texas to blue states.
On Friday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said that the migrants would be relocated to the Joint Base Cape Cod military base after it was determined that there were no adequate services on the island.
"The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is coordinating efforts among state and local officials to ensure access to food, shelter and essential services for these men, women and children," the statement said. "Governor Charlie Baker also plans to activate up to 125 members of the Massachusetts National Guard as part of this relief effort."
The migrants who crossed the southern U.S. border and were later flown in two planeloads to Martha’s Vineyard were given falsified addresses corresponding to “random homeless shelters” for their official paperwork, according to a Boston immigration attorney.
Rachel Self suggested Friday that this was done purposefully by Department of Homeland Security officials to make it more difficult for the migrants to stay in the country.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) took credit for arranging and funding the flights, which landed Wednesday afternoon at the wealthy island community off the coast of Massachusetts. He aimed to make a point about the surge in migration along the border with Mexico, even though his state does not abut the country.
The Miami Herald reported that Self is assisting with the migrants’ cases.
She told reporters that the group of 50 men, women and children ― largely from Venezuela ― were processed by DHS agents before leaving San Antonio.
Some of the migrants had specifically told the DHS agents that they had no mailing address in the United States, Self said.
They had allegedly been instructed to notify U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ― the wrong agency ― once they changed addresses.
“This is especially troubling, as anyone with even the most basic understanding of the immigration proceedings knows that USCIS was not the agency with whom the migrants would have to record their addresses,” Self said during a press conference.
An underage migrant (center) is loaded onto a bus to be transported to Martha's Vineyard with dozens of other undocumented immigrants on Friday, Sept. 16. (Photo: Dominic Chavez for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Some of the migrants told NPR that a woman named Perla said they could expect work papers after being flown to Massachusetts. But no one was waiting for them, and the group ended up walking around 2 miles to a community center to ask for help, according to Cape Cod Times, a local newspaper.
They were welcomed by islanders and given shelter, cell phones and other supplies, per The Washington Post.
The group was voluntarily relocated Friday to a military base on the mainland that is better equipped to house and feed people for weeks at a time, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said.
Migrants reportedly put on a plane from Texas to Sacramento not knowing who purchased the tickets and had to walk barefoot from California airport to a local charity
A group of migrants was reportedly flown for free to Sacramento from Texas.
They are unsure who purchased the tickets for them, KCRA reported.
Three men received assistance from a local advocacy group that helped them with food and shelter.
A group of migrants were reportedly flown to northern California from Texas, and are not clear who purchased their tickets — leaving many unanswered questions, per local news.
Eight people from Venezeula arrived in Sacramento on two different flights, KCRA reported on Saturday. Three of them had to walk barefoot from the Sacramento International Airport to a local charity after arriving in the city.
According to CBS News, the group was given paperwork directing them to a shelter that turned out to be an office building for Catholic Charities, which provides social services to people in need.
The men were eventually connected to a city food bank, which contacted NorCal Resist, a local grassroots advocacy group, CBS News reported.
A volunteer for the organization, Goya Gutierrez, picked them up and provided food and accommodations at a local hotel, according to KCRA.
One of the men, who was not named in the report, said that they had left their home country about 45 days before and was transported to a Migrant Resource Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Once there, the man claimed that someone offered them free plane tickets to Sacramento and they couldn't choose their desired destination, according to the report.
"They were really confused. Two of them said they wanted to go to Utah and one wanted to go to Manhattan and somehow they ended up in Sacramento," Gutierrez told KCRA, adding that they have no family in Sacramento.
This comes as GOP-led states are increasing the transport of migrants to sanctuary cities in response to President Joe Biden's border policies.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently flew dozens of migrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. And Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been sending busloads of migrants to other major cities across the country, including Washington, D.C. Their actions have been met with extreme backlash from Democratic leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Hillary Clinton condemned migrants
being flown to Martha's Vineyard as
being 'literally human trafficking'
Alia Shoaib
Sat, September 17, 2022
Hillary Clinton speaks during the New York Democratic Convention
at the Sheraton in Midtown Manhattan on Feb. 17, 2022.
Barry Williams/New York Daily News
Hillary Clinton said sending migrants to Martha's Vineyard is "literally human trafficking."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent 50 undocumented migrants to the Massachusetts island on plants.
Republican lawmakers are sending migrants to blue cities after blaming Democratic policies for a rise in migration.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned sending planeloads of migrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.
They 50 migrants arrived in two planes, on Tuesday, seemingly at the direction of Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis — unwittingly becoming pawns in a political game over U.S. immigration policy.
"Some politicians would rather not only have an issue but exacerbate it to the extent of literally human trafficking," Clinton said while appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe.
"I happen to believe still the majority of Americans are good-hearted and generous, and when people end up on their doorstep in need, they're going to respond. They'll feed them and house them, and the kids in the AP Spanish class will be let out of high school so they can go and translate."
Gov. DeSantis took credit for chartering planes to transport the undocumented migrants to the island in Massachusetts on Wednesday in an apparent bid to force authorities in another state to take responsibility for them. The migrants were primarily from Venezuela.
Martha's Vineyard is an exclusive vacation destination where former President Barack Obama has a holiday home, and Bill and Hillary Clinton often visit.
Taryn Fenske, DeSantis' communications director, told Fox News Digital that the move was part of Florida's "relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has similarly implemented a policy to send migrants from Texas to blue states.
Other Democratic politicians also condemned the Martha's Vineyard stunt, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying it amounted to "crimes against humanity on refugees."
Martha's Vineyard residents appeared to pull together to welcome the migrants by quickly coordinating shelter, meals, and healthcare.
Massachusetts State Senator Julian Cyr told Martha's Vineyard Times that the move was "deeply disgusting."
"This is a cruel ruse that manipulates families seeking a better life," he said, describing them as "fundamentally racist tactics."
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