Venezuelans gather to denounce Gov. DeSantis' migrant flights in Doral
MIAMI - Local advocates came together Tuesday, denouncing Governor Ron DeSantis for relocating 48 Venezuelan migrants from an immigration facility in San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard, with no advanced notice.
"What Ron DeSantis did was despicable," said Andrea Mercado, Executive Director of the group Florida Rising. "It does not have justification to take asylum-seekers and refugees and to treat them this way, and to trick them and mistreat them for a political stunt."
"He's taking our money-- our taxes to get brothers and sisters out of other states-- not even from Florida," said Adelys Ferro, Director of the Venezuelan-American Caucus.
Governor Ron DeSantis spoke in Bradenton Tuesday, saying they have done research at the border since last summer.
"Between a third and 40 percent of the people coming across are seeking to come to Florida," he said. "So we have to figure out: who are those people likely to be? And if you can do it at the source and divert to sanctuary jurisdictions, the chance they end up in Florida is much less."
Most of those migrants have since been moved to a facility in Cape Cod. DeSantis said what they did was beneficial.
"Those migrants were being treated horribly by Biden," he said. "They were hungry, homeless. They had no opportunity at all."
Now, a class-action lawsuit has been filed by three of those migrants and an immigration organization called Alianza Americas. It names Governor DeSantis, the State of Florida, and the State Department of Transportation.
According to the lawsuit: "Defendants provided items such as $10 McDonalds gift certificates to class members suffering from chronic food insecurity."
It goes on to say: "Defendants then made false promises and false representations that if Plaintiffs and class members were willing to board airplanes to other states, they would receive employment, housing, educational opportunities, and other like assistance upon their arrival."
"Defendants procured and paid $615,000 for private chartered planes ($12,300 per passenger), transported class members to the aircrafts, and told them they were flying to Boston or Washington, D.C., which was completely false."
The State of Delaware was preparing after reports of another possible plane with migrants would be landing there. However, that did not wind up happening.