Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Wednesday responded to California Gov. Gavin Newsom after two migrant flights landed in the Golden State.
From the southern border in Arizona Wednesday, DeSantis fired at sanctuary states and the nationwide repercussions of the border crisis.
“These sanctuary jurisdictions are part of the reason we have this problem because they have endorsed and agitated for these types of open border policies, they have bragged that they are sanctuary jurisdictions, they attack the previous administration’s efforts to try to have border security, and so that’s the policies they’ve taken out and then when they have to deal with some of the fruits of that, they all of a sudden become very, very upset about that,” said DeSantis.
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When asked who paid for the flights, DeSantis said the policy had been debated and received overwhelming legislative support.
“These are things that I had to go to them (legislature). I wasn’t just doing it on my own and I think it’s been something that’s been very, very effective and you can see why some people, when they’re coming illegally, that a place like California where they give benefits, they give unemployment checks. They do all that, and so you can see why some of those folks were interested in going that direction,” said DeSantis.
California officials claimed Florida was responsible for flights Friday and Monday that brought South American migrants from El Paso, Texas, to Sacramento.
Florida state emergency management officials on Tuesday confirmed the suspicions.
According to KCRA in Sacramento, California, the Florida Division of Emergency Management acknowledged that it sent illegals to the longtime “sanctuary city” by releasing a 141-second montage of video clips and photos showing the migrants “signing waivers, dancing to music inside of a bus, and posing for smiling photos on an airplane.” RELATED: Florida Officials Acknowledge Sending 2 Planes Of Illegal Migrants To California’s Capital
The June flights come months after Gov. Ron DeSantis, who recently announced his presidential bid, took credit for transporting migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The same twin-turboprop aircraft that ferried migrants to the California capital city on Friday landed at Sacramento Executive Airport Monday morning, with Sacramento-based KCRA television station reporting that 20 migrants were on the flight and were met by Bonta’s staff.
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Both flights traveled from El Paso to Deming, New Mexico, before arriving in Sacramento, according to the website Flight Aware.
DeSantis drew national attention last year when he used state funds to transport 49 migrants from Texas to the posh Martha’s Vineyard enclave. Attorneys representing some of the migrants filed a potential class-action lawsuit alleging the flights violated Massachusetts and federal laws. The lawsuit is pending.
In a tweet Monday, Newsom, a Democrat who frequently clashes with the Florida governor on policy issues, called DeSantis a “small, pathetic man. This isn’t Martha’s Vineyard. Kidnapping charges?”
Newsom said in a Saturday press release that efforts were underway to ensure the people from South America “dumped on the doorstep” of the Sacramento church were being “treated with respect and dignity.” He also said the California Department of Justice was investigating who paid for the flight and “whether the individuals orchestrating this trip misled anyone with false promises or have violated any criminal laws, including kidnapping.”
Bonta also issued a statement decrying the migrants’ relocation.
“State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a public policy choice, it is immoral and disgusting,” he said, pointing the finger at DeSantis. “We can confirm these individuals were in possession of documentation purporting to be from the government of the State of Florida.”
Bonta told reporters the migrants had documentation showing they were transported through a program run by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management and its contractor, Vertol Systems Company Inc.
Florida lawmakers, at the governor’s request, in 2022 gave the DeSantis administration $10 million for the “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program” to transport migrants to “sanctuary cities.” The Legislature steered another $12 million to the program, housed within the state Division of Emergency Management, this year.
DeSantis, one of the top Republican candidates in the 2024 race for the White House, has made his opposition to President Joe Biden’s immigration policies a key part of his campaign.
According to state records, the DeSantis administration has issued $3.8 million in purchase orders to Vertol for the migrant relocation program.
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Newsom, meanwhile, has sharply criticized DeSantis on immigration and other policies. As an example, the California governor in April appeared at New College of Florida, which has been at the forefront of DeSantis efforts to revamp higher education.
In Saturday’s release, Newsom said his office was working with the California Department of Justice “to investigate the circumstances around who paid for the group’s travel and whether the individuals orchestrating this trip misled anyone with false promises or have violated any criminal laws, including kidnapping.”
The migrants will be treated with “respect, compassion, and care,” Bonta pledged.
“We are a nation built by immigrants, and we must condemn the cruelty and hateful rhetoric of those, whether they are state leaders or private parties, who refuse to recognize humanity and who turn their backs on extending dignity and care to fellow human beings,” Bonta said.
The federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the migrants from Venezuela and the non-profit group Alianza Americas alleged that the flights to Martha’s Vineyard violated migrants’ due process and equal-protection rights. Defendants include DeSantis, other DeSantis administration officials, contractor Vertol and alleged organizer Perla Huerta.
The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction to prevent the state from “inducing immigrants to travel across state lines by fraud and misrepresentation.”
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