Democrats Call for DOJ to Investigate Florida's Program to Relocate Migrants
The highly controversial migration programs of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have now been the subjects of national debates, with more and more lawmakers questioning them over their actions.
Democrats are calling the attention of the Department of Justice to look into the programs and see if the two governors have violated federal laws while carrying out the orders.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott's Migrant Busing Program
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been transporting busloads of migrants to Democratic-controlled cities such as Chicago, New York, and Washington D.C. in the past few months.
Abbott, who has jurisdiction on the Texas-Mexico border, claimed the state is suffering a massive exodus of migrants illegally crossing the border. According to CNN, the Lone Star governor has already spent more than $12 million to send off migrants to other states.
"Because (President) Joe Biden is not securing the border, the state of Texas is having to step up and spend Texas taxpayers' money doing the federal government's job," Abbott said in a statement.
Last week, Abbott sent two buses from Texas carrying migrants near Vice President Kamala Harris' Naval Observatory residence in Washington, D.C. Harris has continued to remain silent about the issue, but her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, reacted to it.
The press asked the second gentleman about his thoughts on the surprising arrival of almost 100 immigrants near their residence after taking a COVID-19 booster shot last week.
Emhoff then said: "These are human beings... These are people. They needed to be treated with dignity, with kindness and respect, and they weren't. And we have so-called leaders in this country who rather than focusing on what's good for the public within their own states, they're using people as pawns for a political stunt."
Ron DeSantis, who many Republicans consider a prime candidate for the 2024 presidential election, followed Greg Abbott's plan as he recently sent two planes full of migrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Florida's Programs to Relocate Migrants Goes Under the Microscope
According to The Guardian, Democratic lawmakers had called on the Justice Department to investigate whether Florida and Texas officials broke federal law when they transported dozens of Venezuelan asylum seekers from Texas to Martha's Vineyard under allegedly false pretenses.
According to San Antonio Report, a 27-year-old Venezuelan said he was paid $200 by someone named "Perla" to find people outside a migrant center in San Antonio, Texas that were willing to take the flight to Martha's Vineyard.
"As the federal government retains jurisdiction over cases that involve interstate travel, we request the Department of Justice investigate whether any federal funds were used to operate a fraudulent scheme and request the Department of Justice make a determination as to whether officials in Texas and Florida violated federal law," the letter sent to the DOJ said.
The letter came from the congressional representatives Sylvia Garcia, Gerry Connolly, Ted Lieu, and dozens of other Democrats. DeSantis has denied the allegations that they have misled the migrants.
To this date, only one criminal investigation has been opened by a Texas sheriff in connection to this situation. Bexar County Sherrif Javier Salazar said Monday they were investigating the flights chartered on behalf of Ron DeSantis.
The Democratic lawmakers said the justice department should do the same. Salazar has yet to discuss what specific laws might have been violated. However, he said it seemed evident that the Venezuelan asylum seekers had been "lured under false pretenses."
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Ivan Korrs
WATCH: Why The DeSantis Migrant Stunt Could Be The New Bridgegate - From MSNBC
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