Three Governors Transported Migrants Across State Lines

News broke on Wednesday, September 14th, that Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, flew 50 Venezuelan and Colombian migrants to Martha’s Vineyard Airport in Massachusetts. However, this wasn’t the first incident of state governors transporting migrants across state lines reportedly against their will; the governors of Texas and Arizona, Greg Abbott and Doug Ducey, have spent millions sending migrants to liberal cities since the spring as well. It has been reported that the 50 migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard were misled about where they were being flown to, and were only told mid-flight where they would be landing. A Massachusetts state representative reported to a local publication, “some of the migrants were told they would receive housing and jobs immediately upon arrival,” yet no one knew they were coming– let alone prepared what they were promised.

These transports have been occurring since Spring, with Governor Abbott leading the charge. It has been estimated that he has sent over 7,600 migrants to D.C. alone, with the most controversial movement taking place just a day after DeSantis flew migrants to Massachusetts; Abbott had roughly 100 migrants driven by bus to Vice President Kamala Harris’ D.C. residence without the knowledge of the migrants or the Vice President. Republican officials in the states transporting migrants have argued that border states shouldn’t have to accommodate for undocumented immigrants, and say they are sending them to liberal states as a challenge to the border policies they support.

Republican efforts to push undocumented immigrants towards “democratic strongholds” destroys the bipartisan cooperation our nation so desperately needs. Now is not the time for republicans to act like children on a playground and shift blame to democrats. We, as citizens of the United States of America, must collectively work together to fix the problem of illegal immigration. Instead of offering a smokescreen of lies and fake protection, we must offer genuine support and welcome all immigrants, regardless of their legal status. We have an obligation to defend the Constitution and apply it to everyone living in the United States equally. This holds true to immigrants especially, as they seek the most protection.

The recent arrival of 50 illegal immigrants at Martha’s vineyard from Florida has caused quite a stir. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking credit for sending the migrants to Martha’s vineyard via two planes this week. According to DeSantis spokesperson Taryn Fenske, "States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies,"(Miller).

Former advisor to Trump, Stephen Miller tweeted "Obama’s compound alone – if cots, trailers and tents are installed – could easily house several thousand illegal migrants. Americans, during actual natural disasters (not illegal immigration for economic benefit) have been forced to sleep in stadiums and makeshift FEMA shelters."(Miller). This argument is meant to raise awareness of the position border towns are put into. Border towns who receive significantly less news coverage and aid are being overwhelmed with migrants. There have been nearly two million migrants crossing state borders this fiscal year and no aid to these small towns. After the migrants are picked up by border patrol, they are usually released with a promise to appear notice for a court date. The town they arrive in must find shelters and other basic necessities for them without aid being promoted by news coverage. In Martha’s vineyard within two days the migrants were moved onto military housing and a GoFundMe page was created. This page raised $43,191 for the migrants care in just a few days. Yes, some called the political move by DeSantis a “humanitarian crisis”. These migrants were able to gain news coverage in a way that benefits the cause of other migrants who are in border towns. Hopefully, this will lead to necessary changes in policy.

Republican officials are no longer throwing around hypotheticals to justify their lack of empathy toward immigrants and refusing to help those in need– they have now escalated to using real people as chess pieces for the sake of proving a point. It is absolutely vile to move people who are doing nothing but seeking better lives across the country without their informed consent, and shows how little they care about the lives of those that they feel aren’t as important. It’s a bit suspicious that these governors are only doing this to migrants from countries in Latin America and not from, say, Ukraine? I frequently reference “keeping the same energy,” and the idea certainly applies here too. One group is labeled as brave refugees while the other is labeled as a drain on the economy, what might the cause for that be?

Papers should not matter when people’s lives are at risk. Documented or undocumented, the United States claims to be the “land of the free” yet they transport people without their informed consent, and the “home of the brave” yet only a coward would pull a childish stunt like what the governors of Texas, Florida, and Arizona have done. Playing with real people’s lives for a mere chance at political gain is deplorable, and hopefully the consequences of their heartless, inhumane actions will hit them at the ballot box when they go for reelection.

Written by Ashlyn Hill

While the way political stunt was pulled Desantis was able to highlight the cracks in the system of immigration. The stunt of sending "50 illegal immigrants to the summer vacation spot popular among wealthy elites to [highlights] the record influx of illegal immigrants at the southern border that has overwhelmed many border towns and exhausted their resources." (Miller). The method may have been unorthodox, but DeSantis was able to make his point.

Many Democrats claim to care about immigration but are not dealing with the effect of illegal immigration in their daily lives. Martha’s Vineyard is a high-profile area known for it’s inhabitants being mostly white and wealthy. Dropping migrants on their front porch to deal with gives them a small taste of what border towns have to deal with. However, unlike regular border towns Martha’s vineyard had the help of significant news coverage raising awareness of their predicament. This allowed them to find temporary housing and significant funds for the migrants within days. In contrast regular border towns are stuck trying to house surges of people with no help.

The system needs to change. It should not be a luxury of the wealthy to be able to sweep a problem like illegal immigration away from their daily lives. We need federal aid to help create housing and supplies for migrants that doesn’t result in putting them in camps. Instead of taking advantage of a group of people willing to work in a newly recovered economy Americans are stuck trying to find them basic necessities that prevent migrants from working. Housing and supplies needs to be a priority so that migrants can work as they wait for the political system to hash out their claims for asylum. It is a lose lose situation to have migrants without homes or supplies at the border.

Written by Alexis Walker

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