DeSantis defends the transportation of migrants to MA after official investigation is announced

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has come to his own defense this week after an official investigation was announced on Monday into his decision to transport two plane loads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last week without notifying anyone in the area they were coming.

The Florida governor received backlash after he sent the migrants to Massachusetts with brochures that are alleged to contain false information about what the migrants could expect when they arrived.

The brochures making the rounds on social media appear to tell the asylum-seekers they could expect eight months of financial assistance and other promises. Officials in Massachusetts were not made aware of the impending arrivals.

On Monday, Javier Salazar, the Sheriff of Bexar County, Texas, announced he had opened an official investigation into how the migrants were led into volunteering to board the planes. Many of the migrants were Venezuelan nationals who had arrived in Bexar County after seeking asylum in the United States at the southern border. Salazar said the migrants believe they were sent to Martha’s Vineyard through “deceptive means.”

DeSantis responded to the investigation on Tuesday, releasing a statement that reads, “Florida gave [the migrants] an opportunity to seek greener pastures in a sanctuary jurisdiction that offered greater resources for them, as we expected.”

“Unless the MA national guard has abandoned these individuals, they have been provided accommodations, sustenance, clothing and more options to succeed following their unfair enticement into the United States.”

DeSantis also appeared on Fox News, telling host Sean Hannity the investigation is unfair.

“It’s really frustrating,” DeSantis said. “Millions of people since Biden’s been president, illegally coming across the southern border. Did they freak out about that? No.”

Salazar believes the entire stunt was a political ploy by the Florida governor. “[The migrants] were promised a solution to several of their problems,” Salazar said. “They were taken to Martha’s Vineyard, from what we can gather, for little more than a photo op, video op, and then they were unceremoniously stranded in Martha’s Vineyard.”