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| Photo Credit: AP. |
BOSTON (AP) — Venezuelan migrants flown to the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his transportation secretary Tuesday for engaging in a “fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” to relocate them.
The lawsuit,
filed in federal court in Boston, alleges that the migrants were told they were
going to Boston or Washington, “which was completely false,” and were induced
with perks such as $10 McDonald’s gift certificates.
“No human
being should be used as a political pawn,” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal,
executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, which is seeking class-action status
in the lawsuit filed on behalf of several migrants who were aboard last week’s
flights and Alianza Americas, a network of advocacy groups.
“It is
opportunistic that activists would use illegal immigrants for political
theater,” said Taryn Fenske, DeSantis’ communication director, in a statement
late Tuesday.
The lawsuit,
which also names Secretary of Transportation Jared W. Perdue as a defendant,
alleges that migrants were induced to cross state lines under false pretenses,
a line that some Democratic officials are using to urge a federal
investigation.
On Monday,
Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, opened
an investigation into the flights, but the elected Democrat did not say what
laws may have been broken. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Rep. Joaquin
Castro, whose district includes San Antonio, have asked the Justice Department
to begin a probe.
Guesswork
was rampant among government officials, advocates and journalists Tuesday about
DeSantis’ next move, consistent with the element of surprise that he and
another Republican governor, Greg Abbott of Texas, have sought to achieve by
busing and flying migrants across the country to Democratic strongholds with
little or no notice.
Asked
Tuesday about speculation that DeSantis may send migrants to his home state of
Delaware, President Joe Biden said: “He should come visit. We have a beautiful
shoreline.”
DeSantis
declined to confirm speculation, based on flight-tracking software, that more
migrants were on the move. He again defended his decision to fly about 50
Venezuelans to Martha’s Vineyard, saying their decisions were completely
voluntary and, without evidence, that they were in awful condition when Florida
got involved.