(Friday PO) Migrants on Martha's Vineyard flight say they were told they were going to Boston

Come discus news articles of the day with a bit of an NPR focus.

Moderators: AA Admin, AA Mod

Post Reply
User avatar
GuideToACrazyWorld
Posts: 8390
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2019 1:31 pm
Location: California
Has thanked: 792 times
Been thanked: 2316 times

(Friday PO) Migrants on Martha's Vineyard flight say they were told they were going to Boston

Post by GuideToACrazyWorld » Fri Sep 16, 2022 2:50 am

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/15/11231097 ... s-vineyard
MARTHA'S VINEYARD, Mass. — About 50 migrants arrived by plane in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., Wednesday on flights paid for by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and that originated in San Antonio, Texas.

The migrants touched down at about 3:15 p.m. local time. Later Wednesday, a spokesperson for DeSantis sent a statement to NPR and other news outlets confirming that the migrants were transported by Florida under a state program that was funded by the legislature earlier this year. The statement reads in part: "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."

Flight trackers show two flights took off from San Antonio around 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

A number of migrants told NPR their flight originated in San Antonio, and that they were being transported to Boston, not Martha's Vineyard.

One flight took off from San Antonio and made a stop in Florida and South Carolina before landing in Martha's Vineyard. The second flight also stopped in Florida, but made another stop in Charlotte, North Carolina before landing in Martha's Vineyard.
Sponsor Message
New York's mayor says Abbott sending busloads of migrants from Texas is 'horrific'
Politics
New York's mayor says Abbott sending busloads of migrants from Texas is 'horrific'

A spokesman for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said his office was not directly involved in these plans.

"Our office has had conversations with Governor DeSantis and his team about supporting our busing strategy to provide much-needed relief to our overwhelmed and overrun border communities," the spokesman said. "Though we were not involved in these initial planes to Martha's Vineyard, we appreciate the support in responding to this national crisis and helping Texans. Governor Abbott encourages and welcomes all his fellow governors to engage in this effort to secure the border and focus on the failing and illegal efforts of the Biden-Harris Administration to continue these reckless open border policies."

The unannounced flight drew anger from Massachusetts officials.

"We have the governor of Florida ... hatching a secret plot to send immigrant families like cattle on an airplane," said state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, who represents Martha's Vineyard. "Ship them women and children to a place they weren't told where they were going and never alerted local officials and people on the ground here that they were coming. It is an incredibly inhumane and depraved thing to do."

NPR was able to interview three of the migrants late Wednesday. "They (the migrants) told us they had recently crossed the border in Texas and were staying at a shelter in San Antonio," NPR's Joel Rose said on Morning Edition.

The migrants said a woman they identified as "Perla" approached them outside the shelter and lured them into boarding the plane, saying they would be flown to Boston where they could get expedited work papers. She provided them with food. The migrants said Perla was still trying to recruit more passengers just hours before their flight.

Two boys are shown staying at a shelter on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., after they and dozens of other migrants arrived unannounced by plane Wednesday.
Eve Zuckoff/WCAI

Andres Duarte, a 30-year-old Venezuelan, said he had recently crossed the border into Texas and eventually went to a shelter in San Antonio.

"She (Perla) offered us help. Help that never arrived," Andres said. "Now we are here. We got on the plane with a vision of the future, of making it." He went on to explain why he boarded the plane with so little information in hand. "Look, when you have no money and someone offers help, well, it means a lot."

In Martha's Vineyard, the migrants are staying at a church shelter while local authorities and nonprofit organizations figure out what's going to happen next. Lisa Belcastro, who runs a homeless shelter on the island, said resources were initially scarce.

"Everything from beds to food to clothing to toothbrushes, toothpaste, blankets, sheets. I mean, we had some of it ... but we did not have the numbers that we needed."

Most of the arrivals spoke little or no English, and Spanish-speaking high school students were pressed into service as interpreters.

Edgartown Police Chief Bruce McNamee said many of the migrants were confused.

"We have talked to a number of people who've asked, 'Where am I?' And then I was trying to explain where Martha's Vineyard is."
Texas sends migrants to New York. They get a warm welcome, but life there is tough
National
Texas sends migrants to New York. They get a warm welcome, but life there is tough

The Wednesday flight extends a tactic by Republican politicians in primarily southern states have used to send migrants to Democrat-controlled cities in the north. Republican leaders have used this step to protest the rise in illegal immigration during President Biden's time in office, and the issue figures to be prominent in November's midterm elections.

Martha's Vineyard has a reputation as a destination for the progressive elite, and DeSantis has been regularly bringing up the island enclave at his press conferences. Republican governors in Texas and Arizona have also been transporting migrants from the border to northern cities at taxpayer expense.

Democrats and immigrant advocates say those governors are essentially using migrants as political pawns. But the governors say are simply calling attention to a very real problem.

The U.S. Border Patrol is on pace to record 2 million apprehensions in a fiscal year for the first time ever.

Belcastro, who runs the Martha's Vineyard shelter where the migrants spent the night, said the group is resilient.

"There's some really sad stories. And then some people, the only thing they were expressing is how grateful they are to be here, and to be safe, and cared for, right? And, you know, their needs are immense right now."

NPR spoke with Yesica, a migrant who gave only her first name because of her undocumented immigration status. She said she was uncertain about her future.

"Oh, goodness. I don't know what is going to happen to us," Yesica said, speaking in Spanish. "The truth is I am worried. It will be whatever God wishes, no? We're here now and there's nothing we can do."

"Not even," she added, "to take a step back."



Senor Natural
Posts: 2647
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2019 1:58 am
Has thanked: 270 times
Been thanked: 279 times

Re: (Friday PO) Migrants on Martha's Vineyard flight say they were told they were going to Boston

Post by Senor Natural » Fri Sep 16, 2022 5:03 pm

win win situation.
Immigrants get free transportation to good jobs in areas where there are a shortage of American workers for open jobs.
Republican governors look like fools for spending their constituents' tax monies sending the immigrants to their good jobs.
Only those who volunteer for the ride go. No one is forced on the busses or planes. Those that want to stay in Texas or Arizona or Florida stay and get jobs there.
We have 11.2 million open jobs in the USA and only 5.8 million Americans seeking a job.
Wages and salaries are up, too.
Those immigrants are happy, employers are happy - Texas, Florida and Arizona taxpayers may not be so happy that their tax monies are not doing flood control, supplying fresh drinking water and road and bridge improvements in their own communities.

User avatar
Z is for Zangie
Posts: 10403
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2019 3:47 pm
Location: OH
Has thanked: 4301 times
Been thanked: 1514 times

Re: (Friday PO) Migrants on Martha's Vineyard flight say they were told they were going to Boston

Post by Z is for Zangie » Sat Sep 17, 2022 2:52 am

Senor Natural wrote:
Fri Sep 16, 2022 5:03 pm
win win situation.
Immigrants get free transportation to good jobs in areas where there are a shortage of American workers for open jobs.
Republican governors look like fools for spending their constituents' tax monies sending the immigrants to their good jobs.
Only those who volunteer for the ride go. No one is forced on the busses or planes. Those that want to stay in Texas or Arizona or Florida stay and get jobs there.
We have 11.2 million open jobs in the USA and only 5.8 million Americans seeking a job.
Wages and salaries are up, too.
Those immigrants are happy, employers are happy - Texas, Florida and Arizona taxpayers may not be so happy that their tax monies are not doing flood control, supplying fresh drinking water and road and bridge improvements in their own communities.
They were tricked....here is just one story about this: ( and there are no guaranteed jobs, they are now at a facility waiting to see what happens next.) This isn't the official busing/flying thing the government does.

A migrant claims to have been paid $200 cash by a mysterious woman called “Perla” to recruit people from a Texas migrant resource center to board a plane to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed responsibility for two flights that saw around 50 undocumented migrants transported to the upscale Massachusetts island as part of what the Republican official called “a relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.” It follows similar schemes created by fellow conservative governors in Texas and Arizona to move migrants to Democrat-controlled areas in the North in protest of the Biden administration’s border policies.



It appears local authorities in Martha’s Vineyard had not been given advance notice of the migrants’ arrival. On Thursday, the Dukes County Emergency Management Association tweeted that the “unexpected urgent humanitarian situation” had necessitated emergency shelters being opened on Martha’s Vineyard.

WGHN, the area’s local NPR affiliate, reported Friday that the 50 migrants were being transported from the island’s lone shelter to temporary housing at Joint Base Cape Cod in Buzzards Bay—off Martha’s Vineyard entirely.

Curious details are beginning to emerge about how the migrants came to be on the planes in the first place, with several outlets reporting that the people on the planes were misled about their prospects when they arrived.

One 27-year-old Venezuelan migrant even claims to have been paid money by a mysterious figure to find people outside the migrant resource center in San Antonio to board one of the flights.

The man calling himself simply Emmanuel told the San Antonio Report that a woman known to him only as “Perla” said she wanted to get migrants to “sanctuary states” where more government support would be available to them.

“Perla informed me that in those sanctuary states, the state has the benefits to help migrants,” Emmanuel told the outlet, explaining that he gave Perla the contact information of around 10 other migrants. “I’ve just been the mediator because I like to help people.”

He added that Perla—who told him she was not involved in organizing the flights and simply wanted to help people—said the money she offered to pay Emmanuel to find others came from an “anonymous benefactor,” who was also funding the flights.

A separate report in the Vineyard Gazette included reference to an unnamed migrant saying they had been recruited by a person named Perla to go to Massachusetts, despite having an immigration court date in Los Angeles next week. “I think this is all a ploy to get us to miss our court dates so we get in trouble with the law and they can deport us,” the unnamed migrant said.

Another person relocated to Martha’s Vineyard calling themselves Luis told Reuters that someone named Perla approached them and their family outside the San Antonio immigration center. Luis said Perla put them up in a hotel, but did not tell them her last name or any affiliation, and asked them to sign a liability waiver.

Separately, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday sent two busloads of migrants to be dropped near the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C.

“Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props,” President Biden told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala on Thursday evening. “What they’re doing is simply wrong.”

Senor Natural
Posts: 2647
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2019 1:58 am
Has thanked: 270 times
Been thanked: 279 times

Re: (Friday PO) Migrants on Martha's Vineyard flight say they were told they were going to Boston

Post by Senor Natural » Sat Sep 17, 2022 6:16 pm

Immigrants are probably better off where they are not hated, like they are in red states.
Anybody that believes anything a republican tells them is foolish.
Republicans lie, follow their dear leader, Lying Donald Turnip and lie all the time. Turnip lies every time he opens his mouth.

Post Reply