Gov. DeSantis is facing a lawsuit from migrants he sent to Martha’s Vineyard

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his transportation secretary are being sued by Venezuelan migrants who were flown to the Massachusetts island, Martha’s Vineyard. They claim that the officials engaged in a “fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” in order to relocate them.

The migrants were allegedly informed that they were going to Boston or Washington and were said to have been offered $10 McDonald’s gift certificates. The lawsuit is being filed in a federal court in Boston. 

Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), stated, “No human being should be used as a political pawn.” On behalf of several migrants from last week’s flights and Alianza Americas, a network of advocacy groups, LCR is seeking class-action status in the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit, also naming Secretary of Transportation Jared W. Perdue, is alleging that the migrants were induced to cross state lines under false pretenses. The Justice Department has been asked by California Gov. Gavin Newsome and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, whose district includes San Antonio, to begin a probe. The elected Democrat sheriff of Bexar County, Javier Salazar, did not say what laws could have been broken but opened an investigation into the flights. 

Speculation and guesswork is rampant among government officials, advocates, and journalists. When asked about more migrants being on the move based on flight-tracking software, DeSantis declined to confirm and claimed that the migrant’s decisions were completely voluntary.