Martha's Vineyard Migrants Will Shelter At Cape Base: Charlie Baker

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MA — A group of migrants shipped to Martha's Vineyard Wednesday by the governor of Florida will likely be housed temporarily at a local military base as state officials prepare to welcome them to the commonwealth.

On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Charlie Baker said the 50 migrants, who are mostly from Venezuela, will live temporarily at Joint Base Cape Cod in Buzzards Bay as they adjust to potential new lives in Massachusetts.

"The Commonwealth has many resources for assisting individual that arrive in Massachusetts with varying immigration statuses and needs and is working with all partners involved to make sure those resources are available to the migrants that arrived last night," Baker said.

The migrants arrived Wednesday around 3 p.m. on two chartered planes accompanied by videographers from Fox News, which later aired an exclusive story about the arrival. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed he sent the migrants to Massachusetts 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.

The relocation to Martha's Vineyard may have also been symbolic. Former president Barack Obama owns a mansion on the island, and DeSantis has previously said he would send migrants to President Joe Biden's home state of Delaware.

The "sanctuary" label may be related to the 2017 Supreme Judicial Court's ruling in Lunn v. Commonwealth that held state law enforcement does not have jurisdiction to hold people at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Voters in Massachusetts will also vote on a key immigration issue in November: whether to keep a state law that allows undocumented residents to get driver licenses.

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.

DeSantis isn't the only governor using immigration policy against other states. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott in the spring announced a plan to start using state troopers to force migrants onto buses to be sent to places like Washington, DC, and New York, according to the Texas Tribune.

The island responded to its sudden role in the spotlight of national immigration politics with hospitality.

The migrants spent Wednesday night at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Edgartown. The nonprofit Martha’s Vineyard Community Services was gathering resources for the men, women and children. Gov. Charlie Baker's administration has said it would provide some assistance, according to U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, who represents Martha's Vineyard in Congress.

"History does not look kindly on leaders who treat human beings like cargo, loading them up and sending them a thousand miles away without telling them their destination," Keating said in a series of tweets Wednesday. "But the people of Martha's Vineyard, its vibrant immigrant community, and the Commonwealth as a whole are already calling @GovRonDeSantis's bluff and rising to meet the challenge because that's what Americans do — we help those in need."