SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration stated Tuesday that three dozen migrants whom the state flew from the U.S. southern border to California on non-public planes all went willingly, refuting allegations by California officers that the people have been coerced to journey beneath false pretenses.
Two planes arrived in Sacramento, on Friday and Monday, every carrying asylum-seekers principally from Colombia and Venezuela. The people had been picked up in El Paso, Texas, taken to New Mexico after which placed on constitution flights to California's capital of Sacramento, stated California Legal professional Common Rob Bonta. He is investigating whether or not any violations of felony or civil regulation occurred.
Alecia Collins, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Administration, stated in a press release that “by way of verbal and written consent, these volunteers indicated they needed to go to California.” She additionally shared a video compilation that appeared to point out folks signing consent types and thanking officers for treating them properly.
The clips had no time stamps, and Collins declined to share further particulars about when and the place they have been recorded.
It was the DeSantis administration's first acknowledgment that it coordinated the flights.
This is not the primary time DeSantis' administration has transported migrants from Texas to different states. Final fall, Florida flew 49 Venezuelans to the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha's Winery. The transfer was supposed to protest federal immigration coverage.
Final month, DeSantis, who just lately introduced a presidential bid, signed into regulation a invoice approving $12 million for a program to relocate migrants, even when they by no means step foot in Florida.
Bonta, who met with a number of the migrants who arrived Friday, stated they instructed him they have been approached by two girls who spoke damaged Spanish and promised them jobs in El Paso. The ladies traveled with them by land from El Paso to Deming, New Mexico, the place two males then accompanied them on the flight to Sacramento. The identical males have been on the flight Monday, Bonta stated.
He stated the asylum seekers have courtroom dates in New York, Utah and Colorado and carried a doc that “purports to be a consent and launch kind” that's designed to protect Florida from legal responsibility.
“After all, what’s vital is what is definitely stated and represented and instructed to the people and we’ve received good indications of what that was and the truth that it was false, deceptive, and misleading,” Bonta stated.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and faith-based teams are working collectively to assist the newcomers, who're staying at two undisclosed places within the metropolis and have been given meals, clothes and cellphones to contact their households.
“Sacramento needs to be a mannequin for the remainder of the state and the remainder of the nation,” Steinberg stated at a information convention Tuesday.
Not one of the migrants spoke on the information convention.
Gabby Trejo, govt director of Sacramento ACT, a collaboration of non secular congregations within the Sacramento space, stated the entire migrants had already been given pending courtroom dates by U.S. immigration officers earlier than they have been approached in Texas by folks promising jobs. Trejo stated that that they had been “lied to and deceived.”
“They couldn’t have landed in a greater place as a result of Sacramentans know what it means to come back collectively and we're right here to stroll with them," Trejo stated.
Sacramento ACT didn't instantly reply to a request for remark later Tuesday concerning the video launched by DeSantis' administration and the assertions that each one the migrants went to California willingly.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's workplace, in the meantime, doubled down on its criticism of DeSantis.
“That is exploitative propaganda being peddled by a politician who has proven there are not any depths he gained’t sink to in his determined effort to attain a political level,” stated Anthony York, a spokesman for Newsom.
Newsom indicated in a tweet Monday that California might contemplate kidnapping expenses in opposition to DeSantis. Such expenses would seemingly be extraordinarily troublesome to show, notably given the migrants signed waivers. Bonta has in a roundabout way stated he's contemplating kidnapping expenses.
Because the migrants arrived in California Monday, a Texas sheriff’s workplace introduced it had really useful misdemeanor and felony expenses for “illegal restraint” over the two flights to Martha’s Winery final yr. Johnny Garcia, a spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Workplace, stated the workplace will not be naming suspects right now, and it isn't clear whether or not the native district legal professional will pursue the fees.
DeSantis' newest obvious transfer to ship migrants to California's capital metropolis seems to be a direct shot at Newsom. Although Newsom has no plans to run for president in 2024, he and DeSantis have regularly used one another as political foils as they solid their very own governing strategy as a mannequin for the nation. Past immigration coverage, the 2 have sparred on abortion entry, LGBTQ+ and civil rights, and a number of different cultural points.
On the marketing campaign path, DeSantis has been wanting to slap at progressive insurance policies in Democratic strongholds corresponding to New York and California, claiming that Florida’s inhabitants growth lately has been pushed by folks fleeing blue-state insurance policies.
DeSantis is presently positioned because the strongest Republican different to former President Donald Trump within the GOP’s crowded major, though Trump maintains a giant lead in early polls.
It isn't but clear if the brand new arrivals in Sacramento plan to remain in California or will ultimately search to go elsewhere, advocates stated. 4 who arrived on the primary flight on Friday have already been picked up by pals or relations, however the remaining stay within the care of native advocacy teams.
The religion-based coalition can also be connecting the migrants with medical and authorized providers, stated Shireen Miles, a longtime Sacramento ACT volunteer. She stated a number of folks have courtroom hearings as quickly as subsequent week in locations corresponding to Chicago, New York and Denver, which immigration attorneys are working to reschedule.
Since they arrived, advocates have taken the migrants to a thrift retailer to select clothes and have allow them to select what meals to eat, advocates stated.
“We're permitting them to outline what their wants are and the way we will finest meet them,” stated Cecilia Flores, of Sacramento ACT. ___
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. Related Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Fla., Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas, Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed.
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Discover extra AP protection of immigration: https://apnews.com/hub/immigration
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