‘A new low’: What some Miami Venezuelans think of migrants taken to Martha’s Vineyard

When Maria Corina Vegas took the stand in Downtown Doral Park, she moved her hands up and down the Venezuelan flag in front of her.

“Where would this city be if not for the blood, sweat and tears of the Venezuelan immigrants?” she said.

Miami-based immigration activists gathered at the park Thursday to denounce Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration flying two planes full of asylum seekers, including 50 Venezuelans, to Martha’s Vineyard. The governor’s decision comes a week after he promised the Cuban and Venezuelan communities in Miami that he would not send refugees out of the state.

READ MORE: DeSantis’ office takes credit for sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard

As a Venezuelan American, Vegas, the deputy state director of the bipartisan American Business Immigration Coalition, said she’s heartbroken on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month by the governor’s actions.

“The governor likes to pander to communities like mine, traumatized by political persecution and violence,” she said. “This is a new low, even for this governor.”

The economy needs immigrants now more than ever, Vegas said. Key sectors of Florida’s economy, like agriculture and hospitality, are in dire need of workers.

“Immigrants fill critical labor shortages in key industries at a time where businesses are struggling to find workers,” she said.

READ MORE: DeSantis defends sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. Critics blast ‘inhumane’ stunt

Like many Venezuelans now in the U.S., Yaneth Vieira never imagined a future where she would leave her country. The thought of studying English hadn’t even crossed her mind.

And now, more than six million Venezuelans have left the country due to Nicolás Maduro’s cruel regime, the Florida Immigrant Coalition activist said.

“We didn’t leave for no reason,” she said in Spanish. “We weren’t a country that produced immigrants. We used to come to the U.S. on vacations.”

She fled to Miami with her two daughters. And many other Venezuelans make the journey to South Florida because they have family here.

“It’s not fair that Gov. DeSantis knowing our story ... treats us like this,” Vieira said in Spanish.

Yareliz Mendez-Zamora, Federal Campaign Lead for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, views DeSantis’ decision as a taxpayer-funded political talking point.

“What we need here in Florida [instead] are solutions to our issues, including our housing crisis,” Mendez-Zamora said.

Mendez-Zamora told the Miami Herald that DeSantis’ decision and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez’s previous comments show how they feel about all immigrants. Nuñez faced backlash in late August for appearing to suggest that Cubans who were in Florida “illegally” should be bused out of the state.

“The curtain is falling,” she told the Miami Herald. “They’re showing that they’re against all immigrants.”

But not all Miami Venezuelans are irate by the governor’s decision.

Felipe García, a 53-year-old Weston resident of more than a decade, applauds DeSantis’ and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s approach of busing migrants to other states.

“I do not support illegal migration, whether of Venezuelans like me or of another nationality,” García said. “Some measure must be taken by politicians to stop this migratory wave of Venezuelans, Cubans and other nationalities that are arriving en masse.”

For five years, Jessica Fernández her husband and their two children have been in limbo. The Doral-based family has been awaiting a pathway to citizenship through their L1 visas. And while the 34-year-old doesn’t agree with DeSantis’ approach, she believes something has to be done.

“It’s unfair that they are allowing everyone who crosses the border to cross and make a life in the United States while my family and I have spent all our savings trying to build a legal life in this country,” she said.

El Nuevo Herald staff writer Veronica Egui Brito contributed to this report