Illegal Immigrants Sue DeSantis for Flying Them to Martha’s Vineyard
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Several of the illegal immigrants who were sent on planes to Martha’s Vineyard last week by Ron DeSantis filed a class-action lawsuit on Tuesday against the Florida governor and other Florida officials.
The lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs, Venezuelan migrants that fled to the U.S., were “authorized” to remain in the country, as they immediately turned themselves over to federal immigration officials once they crossed the border.
The defendants, identified as DeSantis and Jared Perdue, Florida Department of Transportation secretary, orchestrated a plan with other unnamed individuals to troll “streets outside of a migrant shelter in Texas and other similar locales, pretending to be good Samaritans and offer humanitarian assistance,” the lawsuit stated.
The unnamed individuals gave the illegal immigrants $10 McDonald’s “gift certificates” to gain their trust, and falsely told them they would receive assistance in other states if they boarded planes, the lawsuit claimed.
The immigrants were falsely told they were flying to Boston or Washington, D.C., but instead were flown to the posh vacation destination of Martha’s Vineyard, the lawsuit said, adding that DeSantis spent $12,300 per passenger.
“These immigrants, who are pursuing the proper channels for lawful immigration status in the United States, experienced cruelty akin to what they fled in their home country. Defendants manipulated them, stripped them of their dignity, deprived them of their liberty, bodily autonomy, due process, and equal protection under the law . . . in furtherance on an unlawful goal and a personal political agenda,” the lawsuit claimed.
California governor Gavin Newsom has also requested the Department of Justice to look into the states, including Florida, allegedly “kidnapping” illegal immigrants and flying them to other states.
The lawsuit comes as Customs and Border Patrol announced Tuesday that the number of migrant encounters had reached 2 million for the fiscal year — the most in history.
