DeSantis quiet on migrant flights as Texas sheriff calls for charges

The fallout from last year’s migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis now includes a Texas sheriff’s recommendation that criminal charges be filed against those responsible.

On Tuesday, DeSantis remained quiet about the latest flights of migrants from the El Paso area to Sacramento, which California officials said paperwork shows they also were paid for with Florida tax dollars.

In a statement first reported by the Miami Herald, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said it had filed a completed criminal case with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office over the September 2022 flights of 49 people, mostly Venezuelans, from San Antonio to Massachusetts.

“The charge filed is Unlawful Restraint and several accounts were filed, both misdemeanor and felony,” the statement read. “At this time, the case is being reviewed by the DA’s office. Once an update is available, it will be provided to the public.”

The District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.

The September flights were carried out by Vertol Systems, an airline charter company with ties to Florida Public Safety Czar Larry Keefe, who had a hands-on role and was present in San Antonio prior to takeoff, according to text messages obtained by Florida news media including the Orlando Sentinel.

The sheriff’s office action in Texas came on the same day as the second of two flights from a New Mexico airport near El Paso, Texas, landed in Sacramento.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the migrants on the initial flight, which landed Friday, were carrying documents showing the trip was arranged by the Florida Department of Emergency Management and carried out by Vertol.

The second flight on Monday appears to have been arranged by the same company, Bonta’s office told the Associated Press.

The GOP-dominated Florida Legislature gave fellow Republican DeSantis up to $22 million to spend this year moving migrants from anywhere in the U.S. to other states. DeSantis has made immigration reform a key component of his agenda as he seeks the presidency in 2024.

No agency or group has yet taken responsibility as of Tuesday, and DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern did not respond to requests for comment.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called DeSantis “a small, pathetic man” on Twitter and said the state would be investigating the flights for potential kidnapping and false imprisonment charges.

DeSantis did not mention the flights on Fox News Monday or at an event in The Villages Tuesday morning, in which he signed the “Digital Bill of Rights” bill and did not take questions.

The governor is taking his campaign for the White House to Texas, with a planned fundraising event in Midland, Texas, on Tuesday and a trip to the Houston area on Thursday.