DeSantis will continue to send migrants to Democratic states

The Florida administration of Republican Ron DeSantis plans to continue moving migrants who entered the country illegally into Democratic strongholds, his spokesman said Saturday, a day after newly released records showed state officials paid nearly $1 million to arrange two sets of flights to Delaware and Illinois.

Documents released Friday show that the planned two sets of flights will move about 100 migrants to those two states. They were scheduled for before October 3, but were apparently put on hold or postponed. The company hired by Florida it later extended the deadline for travel to Dec. 1, according to memos released by the state Department of Transportation.

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When asked why the flights were postponed, the director of communications for DeSantisTaryn Fenske, pointed out that the government of Florida has been busy dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

“At the time that Florida has been busy responding to our catastrophic hurricane, the immigration relocation program is still active”, Fenske said in an email on Saturday.

The flights will follow the Sept. 14 flights from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, which brought 49 mostly Venezuelan migrants to the island where former President Barack Obama owns property. Local authorities were not informed in advance of the migrants’ arrival.

DeSantis He claimed responsibility for the flights as part of a campaign to focus attention on what he has called the Biden administration’s failed border policies. He joined Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott in sending migrants to Democratic strongholds unannounced.

Earlier this year, lawmakers in Florida approved a budget item of 12 million dollars to relocate people who live in the country without legal authorization since Florida to another place. The money came from interest on federal funds awarded to Florida under the US Rescue Plan. Although the migrants’ flights to Martha’s Vineyard departed from Texas, the chartered flight carrying them made a stop in Florida. DeSantis has said that the intention of the migrants was to reach Florida.

The documents released Friday did not detail how the migrants in San Antonio were recruited for the flights to Martha’s Vineyard or who was hired to carry out that part of the operation.

The flight to Martha’s Vineyard has also given rise to lawsuits accusing Florida of lying to migrants to get them to agree to board flights.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.