Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dispatched plane-loads of illegal immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, the Massachusetts island known as the haven of the rich and the famous.
Fox News telecast exclusive footage of immigrants landing in Martha's Vineyard airport in Massachusetts on Wednesday. The video shows the migrants de-planing at the airport.
50 Venezuelan Migrants
According to MVTimes, some 50 Venezuelan migrants, including children, landed on Martha's Vineyard on Wednesday.
Governor DeSantis had earlier pledged as much as $8 million for funding the transportation of immigrants out of his state, which is opposed to rampant immigration supported by the Biden administration. Martha's Vineyard was purportedly one the destinations for the repatriation of the immigrants. Florida says liberal New England states like Massachusetts, New York and California have been 'incentivizing illegal immigration'.
'New York and California Can Better Facilitate Illegal Immigration'
"Yes, Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha's Vineyard today were part of the state's relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations," Fox News quoted the DeSantis' communications director as saying.
"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," Taryn Fenske told Fox News Digital.
Martha's Vineyard Airport airport director Geoff Freeman said two planes operated by charter company Ultra Air Charters took the immigrants to Martha's Vineyard.
According to the MVTimes, the refugees arrived via Texas. The refugees have been put up at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Edgartown, the outlet reported.
'Credit' for DeSantis?
CNN, CBS News and Reuters appeared to dilute the role of DeSantis in the refugee repatriation by saying that he 'took credit' for the move.
However, Democrat State Representative Dylan Fernandes clearly admitted that the Florida Republican governor was behind the move. "It appears that one if not many Republican governors or operatives chartered flights from the south to come and drop undocumented or documented, I'm not sure, immigrants on Martha's Vineayrd," he said.
The Republican Florida Governor, who is rumored to be considering a White House run in 2024, had said unambiguously that he wanted to send illegal immigrants to states that support illegal immigration. According to him, Delaware and Martha's Vineyard were two possible locations for deporting migrants. "It is not the responsibility of Floridians to subsidize aliens to reside in our state unlawfully; we did not consent to Biden's open-borders agenda," he had said.
