DeSantis Flies Undocumented Immigrants To Martha's Vineyard

FLORIDA — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had two planeloads of undocumented immigrants flown to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on Wednesday as part of his protest of the Biden Administration's border policies.

Officials on the exclusive island off Cape Cod were sent scrambling to find shelter for 50 migrants shipped in a move one Massachusetts elected official said was "depraved."

The migrants arrived around 3 p.m. on two chartered planes accompanied by videographers, according to reports. Shortly after the planes landed, a story appeared on Fox News documenting the arrival.

A spokesperson for DeSantis told the news channel the migrants were sent from Florida as "part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations."

No one on Martha's Vineyard knew that the planes were coming, and local officials harshly criticized what DeSantis did.

"The governor of one of the biggest states in the nation has been spending time hatching a secret plot to round up and ship people — children, families — lying to them about where they're going just to gain cheap political points on Tucker Carlson and MAGA twitter. It's f---ing depraved," Martha's Vineyard state Rep. Dylan Fernandes tweeted Wednesday.

"Yes, Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha’s Vineyard today were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations," the governor’s communications director, Taryn Fenske, told Fox News Digital.

The Massachusetts resort area is known as an enclave of the wealthy and powerful, including former President Barack Obama, who has a summer home there.

The Florida Legislature included $12 million in the current budget to relocate immigrants to other states, The Tallahassee Democrat reported. The flights to Massachusetts were the first time DeSantis had used some of the money allocated for immigrants.

Critics said the money could be better used in Florida on housing, healthcare access and jobs

"Governor DeSantis and his allies in the Legislature are once again using taxpayer money to target vulnerable communities instead of working to improve the health and economic well-being of Floridians,” said Silvana Caldera, immigrants' rights policy strategist for the ACLU of Florida, told the Tallahassee Democrat.

DeSantis had spoken about busing migrants to the president's home state of Delaware.

Florida Democratic Party chair Manny Diaz called it a “new low” for DeSantis designed to score political points at the expense of people “who came here in search of freedom and opportunity,” Politico reported.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, did not criticize DeSantis. His office told reporters that it was in touch with local officials and would support efforts to assist the new arrivals.

The Cape Cod Times reported that the migrants had been put on a plane with nothing more than a brochure from the island’s community services center. They walked 2 miles to the center.

Fernandes, the Massachusetts state official, tweeted that the migrants were told they would be given housing and jobs.

"This all started to transpire late (Wednesday) afternoon. They came unannounced," The Rev. Vincent G. “Chip” Seadale, rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Edgartown where the migrants slept Wednesday night, told the Cape Cod Times.

DeSantis, seen as a top GOP presidential candidate in 2024, is running for a second term in November against Democrat Charlie Crist. DeSantis said after the primary that the general election will be a contest against not just Crist, but against President Biden and “woke” ideology, AP reported.

The Republican governor won his first election by less than half a percentage point, but his hands-off approach to the pandemic and eagerness to lean into divides over race, gender and LGBTQ rights have resonated with many Republican voters who see DeSantis as a natural heir to former President Donald Trump.