Alex Cooper
Mon, September 26, 2022
Ron DeSantis and Pete Buttigieg
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has taken Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to task over the anti-LGBTQ+ politician flying asylum seekers from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
"Obviously, there are issues with the border and with migration, but these are the kinds of stunts you see from people who don't have a solution,” Buttigieg said in an interview with journalist Evan Smith at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival.
His comments drew applause from the audience.
“Governor DeSantis was in Congress. Where was he when they were debating immigration reform?” Buttigieg asks in the interview. “What have any of these people done to be part of the solution?
“So, you know, I get that if you’re after attention … it’s one thing to call attention to a problem when you have a course of action … it’s another thing to just call attention to a problem because the problem is actually more useful to you than the solution, and that helps you call attention to yourself. And that’s what’s going on,”
Buttigieg continued, “And the problem is, it’s one thing if it was just people being obnoxious, but human beings are being impacted by that. You flee a communist regime in Venezuela, you come here, and then somebody tricks you — somebody using Florida taxpayer money for some reason — tricks you in going from Texas to Massachusetts.
“It is not just ineffectual, it is hurting people in order to get attention.”
The clip posted online has been viewed by more than 2.1 million on Twitter and has been liked by more than 105,000.
One Twitter user responded to the clip, “Slayer Pete.” Others praised Buttigieg for his response to DeSantis’s actions.
About two weeks ago, asylum seekers, many of whom are believed to be from Venezuela, were sent to Martha’s Vineyard from Texas due to arrangements made by DeSantis. Many said they did not understand where they were heading or why.
DeSantis said that he wanted to make a statement about President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
The move has been condemned by Biden administration officials and human rights advocates.
John Oliver claims Ron DeSantis flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard was inspired by Tucker Carlson
On Sunday’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, the host called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for flying migrants to the affluent Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts without giving authorities prior notice. Oliver believes the stunt may have been inspired by Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson, who recently suggested doing such a thing.
“If this seems like a stunt made for Fox News, you are absolutely right,” Oliver said. “But it also may have been made by Fox News, because just two months ago Tucker Carlson did a segment pointing out the whiteness of Martha’s Vineyard, and he had this fun proposal.”
Carlson had suggested sending hundreds of thousands of migrants, which would have overwhelmed the small island.
The move by DeSantis followed a similar action by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has bused migrants to various Democrat-led cities. But the difference in this case is that the migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard were reportedly misled about what would be awaiting them when they arrived. The migrants, who are in this country legally having requested asylum, have subsequently filed a class action lawsuit against DeSantis.
“This stunt was both grim and deeply cynical,” Oliver said, “especially given that the migrants were reportedly lured there with empty promises of jobs and housing, and even handed brochures listing government assistance that they were not eligible for.”
DeSantis is currently being investigated by a sheriff in Texas because none of the migrants the governor had flown to Martha’s Vineyard were even in the state of Florida. All were flown there from the state of Texas, which Oliver pointed out.
“It seems this huge problem for his state, mass migration, is actually so little of a problem he had to borrow 50 migrants from a state halfway across the country,” Oliver said. “But still, you know what? Credit where it’s due. Nothing says I’m against illegal immigration and human trafficking quite like making fake documents to smuggle people across a border.”
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver airs Sundays at 11 p.m. on HBO.
A man who helped get migrants on DeSantis' flights to Martha's Vineyard says he feels betrayed: 'I never, ever knew that it was a governor' behind the stunt
Natalie Musumeci
Tue, September 27, 2022
Migrants stand outside St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on Martha's Vineyard, on September 15. A day earlier, two planes with migrants from Venezuela had arrived on the island unannounced.Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
A man who helped recruit migrants for flights bound for Martha's Vineyard says he feels betrayed.
The man told CNN he had "nothing to do with the deception." CNN didn't identify him.
Dozens of migrants were flown to Martha's Vineyard this month in a move planned by Ron DeSantis.
A man who helped recruit migrants to get on flights bound for Martha's Vineyard as part of a stunt by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida earlier this month told CNN he felt deceived and had no idea that the Republican politician was behind the operation.
"I have nothing to do with the deception," the man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said in an interview with CNN published on Tuesday.
"I was always aware that it was a benefactor who was paying for things. I repeat: I never, ever knew that it was a governor or politician. So my only will has always been to help people," the man said, adding that "yes, of course" he felt betrayed.
The man, also a migrant, told CNN that he'd been living on the streets of San Antonio for about a month before he met a woman, identified as "Perla," who he said roped him into the scheme.
He said the woman promised him money, food, and clothes as long as he found other migrants willing to get on flights to Massachusetts from Texas.
He told CNN she also gave him $10 McDonald's gift certificates to give to those who agreed to get on the planes.
"She had told me that the people who were going to Massachusetts, before I sent them, she had told me that they were going to receive them," the man told CNN, adding: "They were going to be given shelter, a place to stay. They were going to help them with the language, and those who had children, they were going to study."
About 50 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, arrived unannounced on two chartered planes from Texas at the upscale liberal Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard on September 14.
The flights were organized by DeSantis, an outspoken critic of the Biden administration's immigration policies.
A Boston-based nonprofit has filed a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of a group of the migrants alleging that DeSantis and other Florida officials carried out a "scheme to defraud vulnerable immigrants to advance a political motive."
The suit says the migrants were persuaded with $10 McDonald's gift certificates and false promises of employment, housing, and other assistance to get them to board the planes out of San Antonio.
The lawsuit says a woman, identified as "Perla," and a man, identified as "Emanuel," waited outside shelters in Texas to offer migrants the gift certificates and tell them about the transport, "pretending to be good Samaritans offering humanitarian assistance."
The man who spoke with CNN said his "only intention was to help the people so they could get some stability."
"Everything was always voluntary," he added. "No one was ever forced to do anything."
The man said once the migrants touched down in Martha's Vineyard, he received a message from one of them saying they realized that no one had been expecting them. CNN quoted that person as saying: "There's nothing here. We're adrift here. These people didn't even know we would arrive."
The man told CNN that he contacted Perla, who texted him: "Tell them to call the numbers we gave them. The church. The state has to take care of them."
People in Martha's Vineyard came to the aid of the migrants, who were later relocated to a military base in Cape Cod designated as an emergency shelter.
An attorney representing a group of the migrants told Insider last week that they'd been "traumatized" by the stunt.
‘They were preyed upon’: immigration lawyers denounce transport of migrants
Erum Salam
Mon, September 26, 2022
Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA
In the wake of the transport of nearly 50 Venezuelan asylum seekers and migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida’s rightwing Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, immigration lawyers representing the group have labeled the move as an “appalling” political stunt that should never be allowed to happen again.
Related: Democrats call for justice department to investigate migrant flights
DeSantis – who is both an ally and a rival to Donald Trump – has claimed responsibility for the flight as an attempt to protest against Joe Biden’s immigration policy. But the move had been widely condemned as racist and abusive towards those dumped on the upmarket resort island in Massachusetts.
Mirian Albert, a lawyer for the group Lawyers for Civil rights, said: “Lawyers for Civil Rights was not looking for this fight. Neither were our clients. But we’re more than ready to take this on. And we’re not gonna let this happen again – not on our watch.”
The result of the efforts of Albert and her colleagues was a federal class-action lawsuit against DeSantis and others, which could see the extremist Republican governor face severe consequences for violating federal immigration law by engaging in acts some legal experts have deemed human trafficking or smuggling.
“What we hope to do with the class action that we filed is stop the shipment of immigrants across state lines by misrepresentation and fraudulent efforts, specifically from Ron DeSantis, and the state of Florida,” Albert said. “And we hope to seek a nationwide injunction to make that happen, and then also to make our clients whole again. They were stripped of their integrity throughout this whole process. And I think that making sure that they feel whole is also important here.”
DeSantis’s actions have only been the most extreme of a wave of efforts to transport migrants by Republican governors. Leaders in Texas and Arizona have bussed them to Chicago, New York and Washington DC, also sparking widespread condemnation for using a complex human situation for political theatre.
Target communities of the bussing and flights have reacted by welcoming the migrants, including in Martha’s Vineyard.
Sarang Sekhavat, political director for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said he began the work of calling pro-bono attorneys for the arrivals as soon as the news broke.
“My initial reaction was just confusion. It didn’t make any sense. Even for the political point that Governor DeSantis is trying to make, complaining about what [he’s] seeing in [his] state, why are you going to another state to get people? Why pull people out of Texas, if your complaint is in your state?,” he said.
Sekhavat added: “Second off, these are asylum seekers – folks who are lawfully present in the country. The DeSantis administration keeps talking about illegal immigrants. That’s not what these are.”
Despite the overwhelming backlash, DeSantis doubled down on his actions and vowed to continue to transport more migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities, despite Martha’s Vineyard having no such designation.
DeSantis said: “The legislature gave me $12m [for migrant transport]. We’re going to spend every penny of that to make sure we’re protecting the people of the state of Florida.
In response to DeSantis, Sekhavat said: “Send them, that’s fine. What I think the state of Massachusetts showed last week is that we have a lot more compassion and humanity than he does.”
Albert traveled from Boston to catch the ferry to the Vineyard and described the scene she found as “extremely outrageous”.
“We were just trying to talk to families and individuals about how this event occurred and what led up to it. I was distressed. It’s so disorienting to put myself in their shoes and to imagine getting on a plane and then landing somewhere that’s completely unfamiliar to you. And then not having anyone to call or not being able to get any of your needs met.”
Multilingual brochures given to these individuals by their transporters, shared by Lawyers for Civil Rights, promise employment, food assistance, school registration for children and housing if they got on the plane to Massachusetts.
“I can only imagine how terrifying that must have been, especially for the mothers who weren’t in the group. It is appalling to think that politicians are using human beings as political pawns to just make a political statement,” Albert said.
“[They were] feeling frauded, feeling tricked, feelings of desperation. A mother mentioned that she started crying when she landed, because she just didn’t know what was going to happen. It was not OK.”
Island residents rallied to quickly gather food and supplies and set up shelter. There were reports of locals helping set up St Andrew’s Episcopal church to house the new visitors and high-school students in the area stepping in to provide Spanish translation services.
But, despite DeSantis’s political stunt, there could be more legal implications in store for him in the wake of the flight. Criminal investigations in both Texas and Massachusetts could result in state charges for DeSantis, as well.
Javier Salazar, sheriff of Bexar county in San Antonio, said: “I believe that they were preyed upon. Somebody came from out of state and preyed upon these people, lured them with promises of a better life which is what they were absolutely looking for, and hoodwinked into making this trip to Florida and then onward to Martha’s Vineyard for what I believe to be nothing more than political posturing.”
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