The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said it has opened an investigation into last week’s incident, in which the immigrants were “lured from the Immigrant Resource Center” in their county — which covers most of San Antonio — and flown to Florida and later to Martha’s Vineyard. where they were “left to fend for themselves”. “Additionally, we are working with private attorneys representing the victims, as well as advocacy organizations regarding this incident,” Sheriff Javier Salazar (D) said in a statement. “We are also prepared to cooperate with any federal agencies that have concurrent jurisdiction, should the need arise.” DeSantis surprised federal and state officials Wednesday by sending migrants who recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to the affluent Massachusetts resort. The move is part of an ongoing campaign by DeSantis and other Republican governors in Texas and Arizona to send migrants to Democratic-leaning cities such as Washington, New York and Chicago to publicize the growing number of crossings this year at the southern border. Migrants who flew to Martha’s Vineyard from Florida said they were surprised when they arrived on the island on September 15. (Video: Reuters) About 50 migrants — including men, women and children — boarded bus flights from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard, with a brief stopover in Florida. Many of them later told immigration lawyers and advocates that they were promised jobs and other benefits if they traveled to Massachusetts. It wasn’t like that. “They were promised a solution to several of their problems,” Salazar said Monday. “They were taken to Martha’s Vineyard, from what we can gather, for little more than a photo shoot, video op, and then unceremoniously stranded on Martha’s Vineyard.” Requests for comment made late in the day to DeSantis’ communications office were not returned. Democrats and immigration advocates decried the incident as a political stunt. The White House blasted DeSantis and other Republican governors “using immigrants as political pawns” as “disgraceful … reckless and just plain wrong.” “There is a process that exists. And what they’re doing is an illegal stunt, it’s a political stunt,” White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said last week. “And it’s really just disrespectful to humanity.” Jean-Pierre referred questions about whether the Biden administration would take legal action to the Justice Department. Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Maria Sacchetti and Lori Rozsa contributed to this report.
