Report: Migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard have been bused to Cape Cod military base

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) confirmed on Friday that the roughly 50 migrants who were sent to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) have been transported by bus to a Cape Cod military base.  

Up to 125 Massachusetts National Guard members will be on hand to greet the migrants and then allow them to settle into their dormitory-style accommodation. Officials said that the migrants boarded the bus voluntarily.

The migrants will have access to food, health care and any necessary counselling.

DeSantis explained the move to bus the migrants from Texas and Florida, saying that the two states are not “sanctuary states” and that states that consider themselves a sanctuary for migrants should be willing to take them.

“We are not a sanctuary state, and it’s better to be able to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction, and yes, we will help facilitate that transport for you to be able to go to greener pastures. Every community in America should be sharing in the burdens. It shouldn’t all fall on a handful of red states,” DeSantis said.

Charlie Crist, who will run against DeSantis for governor, lashed out at him in a statement: “This is just another political stunt that hurts our state. Tonight, the 4.5 million immigrants who call Florida home must be wondering if they’re next.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also chimed in, accusing the governors of treating migrants like “political pawns” and said their actions were a “cruel, premeditated political stunt.”

The Lawyers for Civil Rights group, some of whom accompanied the migrants on the bus, also hit out at DeSantis.

“This cowardly political stunt has placed our clients in peril. Some now have immigration hearings as early as Monday thousands of miles away,” the group said.