The migrants that were dropped off at the Vineyard airport in a political move orchestrated by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 have taken a critical step toward being able to stay in the country.
On Monday, an attorney who has been helping the Venezuelan asylum seekers said some migrants have begun receiving bona fide determinations from the United State Citizenship and Immigration Services on their applications for visas, allowing them to seek employment and protecting them in the long immigration process.
A Massachusetts federal judge last week dismissed Gov. Ron DeSantis from a lawsuit over the flights of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022, but left the door open for the case to continue against the company that arranged the flights.
The Department of Homeland Security Wednesday announced it would be extending Venezuela’s temporary protected status, allowing asylum seekers – including the 49 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard last year – to begin making a living for themselves sooner than previously allowed.
Last weekend’s events were largely kept under wraps. If asked, attendees donning name tags and color-coded wristbands were told to say they were gathering for a family reunion. It was, in some ways, true.
Premiering at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center on Sept. 16, Martha’s Vineyard vs. DeSantis covers the two migrant flights that arrived on the Island last September and the ensuing legal battles against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration’s migrant relocation program.
Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois asked for the help from the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the migrant flights that landed on the Vineyard in September.
A Texas county sheriff's office 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 district attorney.
America First Legal Foundation, a nonprofit launched by Donald Trump’s senior policy advisor Stephen Miller, sent records requests to Chilmark, Edgartown, West Tisbury and Dukes County over the past several months.
A week after Venezuelan migrants first spent the night at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, over 40 volunteers gathered again Thursday evening. The meeting began with a candle lighting for each migrant who had been sheltered at the church.
