Startling scenes recently unfolded when migrants whose travel was arranged by a team with Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis behind it all arrived in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, without local authorities receiving any advance notice.
The lack of prior notification that the migrants were on the way meant, of course, that the community wasn’t ready and waiting with what the group needed, but residents of the area and officials representing the locale in some capacity quickly mobilized to help the migrants. The DeSantis administration seemingly didn’t set anything up for the migrants in terms of food, shelter, or anything related to these needs. Instead, the people handling these flights allegedly dramatically deceived the people they cajoled into joining the voluntary trip across the country. The group, which actually originated in Texas, was presented with prospects of assistance with housing and work, and the final destination of the journey was initially obscured. “DeSantis is a human trafficker,” a banner flying over Orlando, Florida, proclaimed on Tuesday. Jordan Zakarin, who’s with a progressive media organization called More Perfect Union, took credit.
“We’re flying this banner that says “DESANTIS IS A HUMAN TRAFFICKER” across Orlando to remind people that the governor of Florida is a cruel madman,” Zakarin explained on Twitter Tuesday. “Forget the horse race politics for a minute. He’s kidnapping migrants & exploiting them to rile up bigots.” No matter the point of the transports, be that trying to annoy Democrats, expose supposed liberal hypocrisy, bring general attention to immigration, or anything else, DeSantis and the other Republican governors engaging in similar practices are using disadvantaged people — who are evidently allowed to be here as their asylum cases move forward, at least in DeSantis’s case and presumably the others — for political ambitions. Some of those on the Martha’s Vineyard flights were originally homeless. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, which covers San Antonio, Texas, where migrants on DeSantis’s flights were originally targeted, recently announced it was opening a criminal investigation into the unfolding debacle. Check out the banner below:
We’re flying this banner that says “DESANTIS IS A HUMAN TRAFFICKER” across Orlando to remind people that the governor of Florida is a cruel madman.
Forget the horse race politics for a minute. He’s kidnapping migrants & exploiting them to rile up bigots. pic.twitter.com/4koh7GcGKh
— Jordan Zakarin (@jordanzakarin) September 20, 2022
How can anyone with a conscience support “governance” that consists of deceiving homeless migrants in another state into getting on a flight across the country, where no vetting process was conducted to see if these people had preexisting connections in the area, and to which targets were lured with lies about help with basic needs? A pamphlet circulated, which a legal group representing some of the migrants shared, that outlined benefits allegedly available — without specifying these benefits weren’t available to those on Ron’s flights. The document was apparently provided in the course of putting the trip together. Numerous concerned observers have pointed out some of the moral implications of what happened. Aren’t there any basic standards of decency across parties?
