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Migrants whom DeSantis flew to Martha's Vineyard file class action suit against him

DeSantis has asserted that the migrants willingly boarded the planes.

Published: September 20, 2022 7:24pm

Updated: September 20, 2022 7:59pm

Some of the migrants whom Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis flew to Martha's Vineyard have filed a lawsuit against him and state officials.

These migrants allege that the group boarded the planes under false pretenses. The governor sent two planes of illegal migrants to upper crust liberal enclave Martha's Vineyard late last week, prompting horror from the area's residents and outrage from Democratic politicians. Authorities promptly relocated the migrants from the wealthy area to a military base near Cape Cod.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom even suggested that the Department of Justice could pursue kidnapping charges amid reports that the migrants were misled as to their destination and received false promises of expedited work authorizations, a pivotal claim in the suit.

"These immigrants, who are pursuing the proper channels for lawful immigration status in the United States, experienced cruelty akin to what they fled in their home country," the filing reads, according to The Hill. "Defendants manipulated them, stripped them of their dignity, deprived them of their liberty, bodily autonomy, due process and equal protection under law, and impermissibly interfered with the Federal Government's exclusive control over immigration in furtherance of an unlawful goal and a personal political agenda."

DeSantis has asserted that the migrants willingly boarded the planes.

The suit asks a Massachusetts judge to halt the relocations and declare them unconstitutional. It also names the Florida secretary of transportation as a defendant, The Hill reported. DeSantis has confirmed that the flights received money from a fund the legislature allocated for migrant relocations.

Legal action against the Florida governor comes amid reports that he is sending yet more migrants to left-wing enclaves, with an expedition to President Joe Biden's Delaware beach house reportedly in the works.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona GOP Gov. Doug Ducey have also transported migrants to liberal cities in a bid to highlight the consequences of the Biden administration's lax enforcement of immigration law. Abbott, most recently, sent migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris' official Washington, D.C., residence.

Abbott has also faced accusations that his agents have misled migrants as to their destination and potentially expedited employment authorization, which he has denied, asserting that migrants voluntarily sign forms that disclose their destination prior to boarding.

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