Baker 'glad' Texas sheriff investigating transport of migrants to Martha's Vineyard
BOSTON -- Governor Charlie Baker hasn't spoken to Florida Gov. Ron Desantis about the Venezuelan migrants who were flown to Martha's Vineyard last week but he's pleased that a Texas sheriff has launched a criminal investigation.
"I haven't spoken to anybody about it. I'm mostly focused on trying to make sure we come up with service plans and solutions for the people who are here," Baker told reporters Tuesday. "I don't know [if a crime was committed]. It's up to the authorities on the ground there to figure out what did and didn't happen. I am very glad that the sheriff chose to open an investigation. I think that's the right thing to do."
Baker once again called for immigration reform at the national level. He said immigration change might be the only positive thing that could come out of "sending people -- as I said before -- all over the country who don't know where they are going, and in some cases may be under false pretenses. It's just a really lousy thing to do."
"I would like to see the feds create an immigration policy that people can understand and that people can enforce, and people can abide by. We don't have that," Baker said.
In Massachusetts, one of Baker's priorities is finding "more appropriate housing solutions" for the migrants on the Cape. The Joint Base Cape Cod provides a dormitory-style living. "They have a lot more privacy where they are now but our goal is to come up with a strategy that figures out some way to help them land in what I would describe as a more appropriate setting."