Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is being accused of “kidnapping” 16 migrants who were transported from New Mexico to Sacramento, California, apparently without enough planning for their arrival, according to California Governor Gavin Newsom (D).
“The 16 migrants from Colombia and Venezuela were taken from El Paso to New Mexico by bus before boarding a flight to Sacramento,” according to the Los Angeles Times. “They were left at the Sacramento Roman Catholic Diocese’s front door.”
In a statement this week, the attorney general of California, Rob Bonta, said that the Florida state government was responsible for the transfer of the migrants, who had originally entered the country via Texas.
Since President Biden took office, millions of migrants have made it across the border, many of them illegitimately. Texas has a strategy of sending certain immigrants to other states and cities—often Democratic-run “sanctuary cities”—where they might find better opportunities.
Migrants who were originally assigned to Florida have also been redirected from the state. DeSantis deployed a planeload of migrants to the Democratic Party elite’s island retreat of Martha’s Vineyard in the autumn of last year. Despite the abundance of political posters inviting immigrants to the nation, the island was unable to house the refugees, so they were transferred within 24 hours to a shelter on a military installation on the mainland.
DeSantis was accused of abduction this week by Newsom, who often harasses conservative governors on social media, particularly DeSantis. However, there is no proof that DeSantis was involved.
California’s generous assistance programs for illegal immigrants were not addressed by Newsom, who fled his state for a vacation in Mexico amid devastating blizzards earlier this winter.
The Times reports that despite the fact that the migrants never reached Florida, Californian officials have not yet made their records available that show Florida was involved.
