Migrants Flown By DeSantis Can Sue FL Charter Flight Company: Report

BOSTON, MA — A federal judge in Boston has ruled that dozens of Venezuelan migrants who were flown to Martha's Vineyard by Gov. Ron DeSantis can sue the charter flight company, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

DeSantis has criticized President Joe Biden's federal immigration policy and has heavily publicized Florida's role in past instances in which migrants were transported to Democratic-led states.

DeSantis and other Florida officials have remained mum, as they initially were in 2022 when they flew about 50 Venezuelan migrants to the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard, luring them onto private jets from a shelter in San Antonio, Texas.

The Associated Press reported the migrants were told they would receive work and housing opportunities. They are now allowed to sue "Florida-based Vertol Systems Co., which had agreed to fly them to the island for hundreds of thousands of dollars," the Associated Press.

In the 77-page ruling, DeSantis was accused of sending his team members to Texas in summer 2021 to learn how he could get involved with immigration issues.

RELATED: 2 States Threaten DeSantis With Criminal Charges Over Migrant Flights

"Shortly thereafter, he, (Florida Public Safety Czar Lawrence) Keefe and (DeSantis' Chief of Staff James) Uthmeier purportedly 'hatched a scheme . . . to send immigrants to the northeast United States and profit from the ensuing media coverage,'" read the ruling.

It stated financing to fly the migrants came from the General Revenue Fund, which had been allocated to the Florida Department of Transportation for "immigrant relocation."

As part of his protest in 2022 of what he called the Biden Administration's lax border policies, DeSantis had two planeloads of migrants flown to the island off Cape Cod, the home of former Democratic President Barack Obama. The migrants arrived without notice, prompting local authorities on the island to scramble to provide shelter and food for the unexpected visitors.

The Florida Legislature included $12 million in its 2022 budget to relocate immigrants to other states, The Tallahassee Democrat reported. The flights to Massachusetts were the first time DeSantis used some of the money allocated for immigrants.

DeSantis said he was justified in using Florida tax money to fly migrants from Texas to Massachusetts because he said many people who cross the Texas border end up in Florida.

In a past statement to the Miami Herald, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office in Texas confirmed that criminal charges were recommended in connection with the Martha's Vineyard case.

The case was then passed to the Bexar County District Attorney, the Herald previously reported.

Read more via the Associated Press.

Patch breaking news editor Megan VerHelst contributed to this report.