Someone should face criminal charges over DeSantis' flights that dumped migrants on Martha's Vineyard: Texas sheriff
Paul Squire
Jun 6, 2023, 10:45 AM PDT
Rafael Eduardo (left), an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, hugs another immigrant outside of the Saint Andrews Episcopal Church on Martha's Vineyard. Dominic Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images
- A Texas sheriff filed charges over a migrant flight to Martha's Vineyard that DeSantis arranged.
- Florida helped organize the flights in 2022, sending 49 migrants to the wealthy Northeast island.
- The Texas sheriff said someone should face felony and misdemeanor charges but didn't say who.
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Someone should be criminally charged over the migrant flights arranged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that dumped nearly 50 undocumented immigrants on Martha's Vineyard last year, a Texas sheriff says.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office filed kidnapping charges, a sheriff spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday, recommending that a local prosecutor charge someone for the flights.
"The charge filed is Unlawful Restraint and several accounts were filed, both misdemeanor and felony," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "At this time, the case is being reviewed by the DA's office."
The sheriffs didn't say who they suggested should be charged over the flights to the wealthy Massachusetts enclave.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe D. Gonzales said in a statement that prosecutors will conduct a "normal and meticulous intake review."
"The process of determining whether enough evidence exists to charge anyone with a crime and convince a jury of Bexar County citizens 'beyond a reasonable doubt' that a crime has been committed may be lengthy and labor-intensive under the best of circumstances," Gonzales said in the statement. "If a review of the facts reveal that a felony offense has been committed, we will present that case to a grand jury for their deliberation."
DeSantis at the time claimed credit for the flights and repeatedly said that migrants were sent there because Democrat-run states should shoulder more of the burden from migrants coming across the Southern border.
The 49 migrants were put onto two flights from San Antonio after a woman
promised them they'd get expedited work permits in Boston, three of the migrants
told NPR.
The migrants said they had no idea where they were when the chartered plane dropped them off in Martha's Vineyard, NPR reported. Massachusetts officials at the time said had no idea the migrants were coming and,
according to the New York Times, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott didn't know about the flights either.
Though the migrant flights stopped after the Martha's Vineyard incident, migrants continued to be
bused from Texas to other states. And the flights appear to be starting back up again.
California law enforcement announced this week that two flights carrying 36 migrants from the southern border landed in Sacramento, California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused DeSantis of orchestrating the latest flights and suggested he be charged with kidnapping.
The migrants involved in the latest flights were picked up in El Paso, Texas, and had paperwork connected to Florida's emergency management division, as well as contractor Vertol Systems Company, which administered the travel.
Still, DeSantis has not responded when asked if he is involved in the latest flights. His office also did not immediately respond when asked about the possible charges in Texas.
