“Migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard have filed a lawsuit against Gov. DeSantis” (state-sponsored NPR, 9/20):
A civil rights law firm filed a federal class action lawsuit on Tuesday against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others for transporting around 50 immigrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, without shelter or resources in place.
Alianza Americas’ Executive Director Oscar Chacón said that DeSantis used the migrants to “advance a hate-filled agenda.” “That is why we have taken the steps to legally challenge what we view as not only a morally reprehensible action, but what we believe is also illegal,” he said.
Attorneys want DeSantis and his fellow defendants to be banned from “inducing immigrants to travel across state lines by fraud and misrepresentation,” as well as damages “for the harm suffered by the migrants.”
The migrants were harmed by being transported to a place that people were willing to pay $616 per night (plus taxes and the “resort fee” scam) to stay in (I checked the late-September Edgartown hotel rates a few days ago).
The Vineyard 50 have enough money, either in their pockets or via donation, to pay lawyers at least $500,000 to push a lawsuit through Federal court.
Is there a cheaper way to mitigate the harm that they’re suffering by being in Massachusetts surrounded by the fully vaccinated and masked applying “No Human Being is Illegal” signs and bumper stickers to lawns and cars rather than in Texas, which by implication is a superior place to live? If the Vineyard 50 can get from the off-island detention camp in which they’ve been interned to Boston’s Logan Airport, a one-way plane ticket back to the San Antonio paradise from which they were snatched is about $100:
For less than $6,000 every migrant could be back in San Antonio.
Perhaps the Vineyard residents who cheered as the migrants were bussed out of their upscale town could go to Logan Airport to see them off. Hawaiians have a tradition of hanging leis around the necks of people who arrive (“Nothing says Aloha like our Classic Orchid Lei”). The property owners of Martha’s Vineyard could establish a tradition of providing leis to migrants who are departing back to Texas and/or Florida (“Nothing says Adios like our Maskachusetts State Flower Lei made from mayflowers”).
From the Boston Globe recently, “Plane towing a banner reading ‘Vineyard Hypocrites’ circles Martha’s Vineyard”:
The last part is my favorite. Given an island whose real estate was already half empty due to the summer season winding down, it was a “herculean” effort for some of the country’s wealthiest people to shelter 50 migrants (out of millions) for two nights.
What I think is really sick – they took these 50 people off that island, after being in the care of a generous church and its pastor – who I really do believe are guiltless here and tried to do their best to care for these people and make them feel welcome – and frog marched them to a military base surrounded by soldiers and National Guard. That must have scared the crap out of a lot of them. It would have scared the crap out of me. One day you’re on Fantasy Island surrounded by rich people in a nice little church and the next day you’re sitting in a barracks on a military base surrounded by soldiers.
Then they bring in some expensive lawyers who “ask” them if they want to “cooperate.” Charlie Baker and all the rest of them should be hanging their heads in shame. Of course, Baker is done as the Governor and in my mind, this was a despicable thing to do as one of his last acts in office – and it just demonstrates what a TOOL he is.
By the powers invested in Me by Me, I hereby designate this the “Charlie Baker Humanitarian and All Around Super Nice Guy Award Song” : Tool – “Sober” – from the album “Undertow” released May 1993:
I also think some of the boutique shops on MV should take advantage of the opportunity to further enrich themselves by selling some competing T-shits to tourists:
“I [Heart] Ron DeSantis!”
“Ron Desantis Can Suck My Sloop!”
“Joint Base Cape Cod Escapee”
“Anyplace But [gasp] HEAAAH, for Gaawds Sake!”
“Some Things Are Better in Texas”
and so on….Put them out for sale and get the popcorn ready to watch the shouting matches.
It’s not migrants who can afford lawyers, it’s George Soros (formerly known as György Schwartz). You know, that Nazi collaborator and convicted felon wanted in his native country (and a handful of others).
wiki indicates that martha’s vineyard population density is 179/sq mile
while san antonio is 3000 /sq per sq mile.
So to be “equal” as “equal” is fashionable these days, the next logical step is to rapidly build out apartment complexes on Martha’s Vineyard to house all the “migrants” .
And according to my calculations , population density of Martha’s Vineyard can be boosted 17x, so from population 17,000 * 17x = 289,000 to match San Antonio.
How would they travel on the plane? Do they carry ID?
TS: That’s a great question, but I think that most had passports when they arrived in Mexico. See https://www.wola.org/analysis/mexico-restrictive-visa-policy-limits-venezuelans-ability-flee-us/
These are the “documented undocumented”!
If it was such a good idea, why has the Ron gone silent? At $600k a trip, Florida can probably afford twice daily service indefinitely – and I’m sure the commentors here can raise enough for once a month or so.
Save San Antonio!
“Florida gave them an opportunity to seek greener pastures in a sanctuary jurisdiction that offered greater resources for them,” DeSantis’s office claimed in a statement painting him as a champion of the immigrants’ welfare who is “sharing the burden” of border states.
“They have been provided accommodations, sustenance, clothing and more options to succeed,” the statement added, without noting such aid was provided entirely by authorities on the ground, who moved swiftly to deal with the sudden and unexpected influx.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/25/ron-desantis-marthas-vineyard-immigrants-welfare