Were DeSantis’ migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard a criminal operation? What do you think?
From The Hill. Florida officials are facing potential legal peril over GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’s migrant relocation moves.
Have you taken your place on the wall?
California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and Bexar County (Texas) Sheriff Javier Salazar, whose jurisdiction encompasses San Antonio, are focusing their criminal and civil investigations on whether migrants were lured onto flights under false pretenses.
Salazar’s office filed charges with the local district attorney Monday after a nine-month investigation into a Florida-run operation that transported 49 migrants from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Bonta announced his own investigation over the weekend.
Both those investigations orbit DeSantis, former President Trump’s leading competitor for the 2024 GOP nomination, whose hard-line stance on immigration is a keystone of his campaign. …
After remaining uncharacteristically quiet on the issue for days, DeSantis’s office Tuesday took ownership of the latest flights, which carried migrants from Texas to Sacramento, Calif.
“From left-leaning mayors in El Paso, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, the relocation of those illegally crossing the United States border is not new,” division of emergency management spokesperson Alecia Collins said in a statement. “But suddenly, when Florida sends illegal aliens to a sanctuary city, it’s false imprisonment and kidnapping.”
Collins’s statement and a video released by DeSantis’s office characterized the flights as voluntary — a rare defensive move from the Republican presidential candidate — amid increasingly vocal challenges from the West. …
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) panned DeSantis for the flights in a tweet Monday, calling him a “small, pathetic man” and floating the idea of leveling kidnapping charges over the flights.
At a Wednesday roundtable event on the border in Arizona, DeSantis declined to address either the migrant flights or Newsom’s criticism, but did assail so-called “sanctuary” cities and states on immigration.
“That’s the policies that they’ve staken out,” he said. “And then what? When they have to deal with some of the fruits of that, they all of a sudden become very, very upset about that.” …
Though Bonta and Newsom are the highest-profile Democrats to raise criminal charges as a possible counterpunch to migrant relocations, Salazar has for months been pursuing an investigation into the first Florida-related migrant flight.
“[DeSantis] took these people from my hometown of San Antonio. So, San Antonio was always going to have some kind of jurisdiction because of that, and the sheriff indicated a few months ago that he was going to do a full investigation,” said Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-Texas). …
According to Salazar’s office, the recommended charges include several counts of unlawful restraint, some of which are misdemeanors and others felonies. …
What do you think of DeSantis’ migrant flights? Share your thoughts and prayers below.
(Excerpt from The Hill. Photo Credit: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)