TALLAHASSEE – U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents helped with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ operation to fly 48 refugees from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, and misled the migrants with paperwork that could get them deported, immigration lawyers charged.
Agents with DHS met the migrants while they boarded the planes and provided false addresses and wrong information about which agency to contact to get their addresses changed, Boston immigration lawyer Rachel Self said.
“It could not be clearer that this is an attempt to have these people ordered to be removed even if they try as hard as they can to comply with the instructions provided to them,” Self told a group of reporters at island resort off the coast of Massachusetts.
“It is sickeningly cruel to throw obstacles at people fleeing violence and oppression, some of whom walked through 10 countries in the hopes of finding safety,” she said.
Elizabeth Ricci, a Tallahassee immigration lawyer, said Friday that DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, one of DHS’ divisions, had to be involved.
“ICE likely conspired with the governor’s office to pull off the stunt,” Ricci said. “It couldn’t have been done without their direct involvement.”
DHS officials did not return requests for comment.
The migrants were instructed to file a change of address with the U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services, which Self said was “troubling, because anyone with a working knowledge of immigration procedures knows that is not the correct agency with which immigrants had to contact to change their addresses.”
Not filing change of addresses with the correct agency would lead to being deported, she said.
Also, the agents listed false addresses on the migrants’ paperwork, Self said, choosing random homeless shelters from Washington state to Florida, even after the migrants told them they had no address in the United States.
Self said it was clear the migrants were essentially kidnapped, “fraudulently induced to board the planes by being told there would be a surprise for them and that jobs and housing would be waiting for them when they arrive,” she said. “It was a sadistic lie.”’
Nobody on Martha’s Vineyard knew they were coming, and they were left to wander around with colorful maps in their hands trying to find a government office where they could find help, according to multiple reports.
By Friday, the migrants were being bussed off of Martha’s Vineyard to Joint Base Camp Cod on the mainland after receiving an outpouring of help from the people on the island.
DeSantis confirmed Friday a contractor was hired to charter two planes Wednesday “as part of the state’s immigrant relocation program.”
No other details were released despite repeated public requests by the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday and Friday that the governor’s office has not responded to.
U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, a Democrat running against DeSantis for governor on Nov. 8, filed a public records request Friday seeking similar details.
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and California Gov. Gavin Newsom were among officials calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether the relocation amounted to trafficking. Penalties can include a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both.
Miriam Albert, staff attorney for Lawyers for Civil Rights, said her organization is “ready to take legal action to protect the people here today and all people similarly situated.”
She also said her organization was exploring “all action, civil and criminal, to hold the perpetrators accountable and prevent this injustice from repeating itself.”
In Orlando, Hispanic leaders and advocates for the immigrants expressed their outrage.
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“I’m really frustrated, angry, sad and very hurt by what has happened,” said Stephanie Wall, director of operations for the…
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