A Texas county sheriff's office announced earlier this week that it has now completed its investigation into the migrant flights from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last September and filed a criminal case with the local Texas district attorney.
In a statement sent to the Gazette Wednesday, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office did not name any individual suspects but said the case is being reviewed by the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office. The charges filed include several counts of unlawful restraint, both misdemeanors and felonies.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took credit for the two chartered planes transporting 49 Venezuelan migrants to the Island in September 2022. Mr. DeSantis declared his presidential candidacy last month and has mentioned the flights several times in interviews.
Most of the people flown to the Vineyard have since moved off-Island, though some have made a life here while they wait to be granted asylum.
Vineyard resident and immigration attorney Rachel Self was involved in the initial migrant response on the Island and has continued to represent several of the individuals as they move through the immigration system. In a statement released Tuesday, Ms. Self commended Bexar County sheriff Javier Salazar and his team for their work on the investigation.
“No American, law enforcement or otherwise, should be able to sleep at night knowing that government officials from another state can cross into your jurisdiction, hunt human beings for cheap political points, lie to them, round them up, put them on a plane, and ship them away,” Ms. Self stated. “This should be terrifying for everyone; it should sound a deafening alarm.”
The Texas sheriff’s office said that once an update on the case was available, it would be provided to the public. The district attorney’s office did not immediately return a request for comment this week.
Similar to the Vineyard flights from September, Governor DeSantis’ administration chartered a plane of 20 migrants from New Mexico to Sacramento, California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by calling Mr. DeSantis a “small, pathetic man” and threatening kidnapping charges.
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