Topline
Examples grow of a blonde mystery woman in San Antonio, Texas, who may have misled some of the 50 Venezuelan migrants who arrived on Martha’s Vineyard Wednesday into thinking they were going somewhere else, getting jobs or even money, as the GOP political stunt engineered by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis begins to face larger scrutiny and criticism.
Key Facts
A 22-year old man named Eduardo told the Texas Tribune that a tall, blonde woman who said her name was Perla approached him at San Antonio’s Migrant Resource Center, days after he entered the country, promising him a job and a place to live in Boston, and offering him $200 to recruit other migrants to join him on the flight, Boston Globe reported.
Only after making several refueling stops on the charter flights, including one in Crestview, Florida, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware, was Eduardo told he would be landing on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Cape Cod, he told the Texas Tribune.
Ardenis Nazareth, who also came to Texas from Venezuela, recounted a similar story to the New York Times, saying Perla offered him and 30 other migrants McDonald’s gift cards and a free flight to a “sanctuary,” adding he thought he was being flown to Boston, not an island.
A 27-year-old Venezuelan man identified as Luis also said Perla offered him and nine relatives support for 90 days and assistance with work permits and English lessons, Reuters reported.
And a man named Emmanuel told the San Antonio Report Perla said she could help send him to “sanctuary states” that have more immigration resources.
On Friday, the Texas-based League of United Latin American Citizens offered a $5,000 reward for information that could help identify the woman known as Perla, who is now at the center of a renewed national debate on immigration.
DeSantis, who took credit for the charter flights, denies claims migrants were misled, arguing in a news conference on Friday they acted voluntarily.
Chief Critic
Immigration rights groups, including the Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights, as well as state officials from Florida and Massachusetts and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called on the Department of Justice to launch a probe into the scheme, with Newsom calling it not only illegal, but “morally reprehensible,” and attorneys at Lawyers for Civil Rights telling the New York Times they would seek an injunction in federal court in the coming days into due process and civil rights violations against DeSantis as they attempt to stop the practice of flying migrants across the country.
Contra
Speculation arose on Twitter in the days after the flights landed as to whether DeSantis violated a federal statute that prohibits the transportation of undocumented immigrants if they have entered the U.S. “in violation of law,” however some legal experts believe the statute does not apply because the migrants had been released by the Department of Homeland Security while their immigration cases play out. Martha’s Vineyard-based attorney Rachel Self also announced she will pursue legal avenues, calling on local, state and federal authorities to collect evidence into the scheme, and referring to the migrants as “victims of kidnapping.”
Crucial Quote
“Using human beings—families and children—as political pawns says far more about Gov. DeSantis’ callousness and disregard for human life than it does about the people of Martha’s Vineyard,” Self said.
Tangent
The controversial move potentially could harm DeSantis in Florida where Latinos—especially Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants, reliably Republican voting blocs in recent years—could move toward Crist in the gubernatorial race, the Orlando Sentinel reported. DeSantis, who was first elected in 2018 on a pro-Trump platform, has taken a hard stance on immigration, promising to bus migrants north to Democratic-led communities and states, including President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware. DeSantis holds a three-point lead over Charlie Crist, according to a poll released earlier this month commissioned by the AARP (50% to 47%).
Key Background
DeSantis had earmarked $12 million in state funding for a program to bus undocumented immigrants out of Florida to Democratic-run states. It’s seen as a potential strategy to make national headlines in an expected 2024 presidential campaign, although he has not explicitly said whether he will run. It’s also part of a larger political move to transfer the immigration battle away from the southern border to Democrat-run states, as Republican governors, including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, sent thousands of migrants on buses to Chicago, New York City and Washington D.C., fueling a national debate over human rights and immigration. Last October, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) filed a bill that would establish ports of entry on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, North Hero, Vermont—where Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) spends his summers—and other East Coast resort communities.
