Gov. Ron DeSantis relishes left's response to Florida-funded flights to Martha's Vineyard

DAYTONA BEACH — Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed Friday to continue his relocation program for migrants who cross the southern United States border into Texas.

Speaking in an aircraft hangar at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, DeSantis defended the $12 million relocation program that ensued with Florida chartering a plane to fly 48 migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on Wednesday. On Friday, the governor basked in laughter and applause from about 200 supporters in attendance.

"So the governor of California (Gavin Newsom) sent a letter to the Department of Justice saying, 'You need to prosecute Texas and Florida governors,' and all I can say is I think his hair gel is interfering with his brain cells," DeSantis said.

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Liberals have called the Martha's Vineyard flight inhumane, but DeSantis argues President Joe Biden's immigration policies represent the real inhumanity.

He described them as having "really negative implications for not just border communities but in communities across the country."

"I think there needs to be accountability and we need to make sure that people know," he said. "Do people stand for secure borders or do they want to make sure that Florida is not going to be a sanctuary state?"

DeSantis, who's asking voters for a second term, has faced sharp criticism in recent days, including from his Democratic rival, Charlie Crist, who has said the Martha's Vineyard flight "is a clear indicator he'll cross any and all moral boundaries to reach his personal political goals."

Crist, on Twitter Friday, said he filed a public records request seeking documents related to the flights and said he is "demanding that the DeSantis Administration explain why and how he trafficked human beings as a political stunt."

During the news conference, DeSantis addressed questions about whether transporting migrants from Texas to Massachusetts met the intent of lawmakers when they included the $12 million in funding last spring.

The budget item states the money is to be used "to facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens out of Florida."

"'We've done stuff in the Panhandle, but what we've found is we haven't seen any major movements of people into Florida, like big caravans. He said "it's hard" for Florida to identify migrants when they arrive in cars, two or three at a time, so going to Texas to divert them is justified, he said.

One of the state lawmakers who shared the stage with DeSantis on Friday, Rep. Tom Leek, an Ormond Beach Republican, had no issue with the way DeSantis was spending the money.

"I think that qualifies," he said.

Not what DeSantis expected

DeSantis admitted what he anticipated — that Florida would be dealing with "midnight flights" and busloads of migrants being dropped off by the federal government — hasn't come to pass.

"I initially, when I asked for the money, thought that Biden was going to be busing. Because, you know, he has sent midnight flights all across this country," DeSantis said.

The migrants who were flown to Martha's Vineyard were asylum seekers from countries such as Venezuela, where they were fleeing political persecution and severe economic conditions.

They made their way through Central America and Mexico to the U.S. border, where they crossed and entered U.S. Customs and Border Protection offices to make asylum claims. While those claims await processing, they are allowed to stay in the United States, frequently without money or shelter.

Steering migrants to 'sanctuary states'

"They are left, high and dry," DeSantis said. "A lot of them are trying to hitchhike. Some of them will pay smugglers to try and bring them into different states including the state of Florida, and so our view is you gotta' deal with it at the source. And if they're intending to come to Florida, or many of them are intending to come to Florida, that's our best way to make sure that they end up in a sanctuary."

Florida, he said, is not a "sanctuary state."

However, DeSantis denied Florida's borders are closed to asylum-seeking migrants who have been let into the United States by immigration officials.

"No, no, no. We have a lot of refugees. We have people that come to Florida from Cuba, they end up in the Keys and they're seeking asylum and a lot of them have valid claims, but I think what's happening is the asylum process is being abused (by migrants at the southern border) because they're trained by activist groups to claim asylum."

On Thursday, Biden said Florida's move was un-American.

"Instead of working with us on solutions, Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props," Biden said.

DeSantis said Friday he was "perplexed" to hear that Biden was "scrambling to get his cabinet together to try to address the fact that you have governors who are helping to relocate illegal aliens."

"The president didn't scramble to get his cabinet together when we had millions of people illegally pouring across the Southern border. He didn't scramble to get his cabinet together when we had... 53 migrants die in some trailer in Texas because they were neglected by the federal government," DeSantis said.

"It's only when you have 50 illegal aliens end up in very wealthy, rich enclave that (Biden) decides to scramble on this," he said.

DeSantis was asked how many of the migrants on the flight started in Crestview. He didn't answer directly, but vowed to continue the program.

"There's also going to be buses and there will likely be more flights, but I'll tell you this: The Legislature gave me $12 million," he said. "We're going to spend every penny of that to make sure that we're protecting the people of the state of Florida."

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: DeSantis: Expect more Florida-funded migrant rides to sanctuary states