(Daily Mail) Ron DeSantis has furiously slapped down a Texas sheriff who launched a criminal investigation into his flying 50 Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
The Florida governor pointed out the hypocrisy of Democratic Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar for probing him when it was in his jurisdiction where 50 migrants died in a trailer-tractor over the summer.
He challenged fellow politicians and voters to find similar levels of outrage at that shocking incident – as well as huge numbers of migrants drowning in the Rio Grande – as what he has been facing for his stunt.
DeSantis’s TV interview comes after Salazar announced an investigation into whether the migrants were lured to Martha’s Vineyard with false promises of financial and job help.
He claimed there was criminal activity involved – before rowing back and saying he was keeping an ‘open mind’ during a press conference on Monday night.
Meanwhile on Monday the number of migrants arrested at America’s southern border soared past two million for the first time in history.
The record, revealed in Customs and Border Patrol records compiled at the border, comes amid a continued influx in Texas, Arizona, and California that has left local towns at breaking point.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis hit back at news that a Texas sheriff had launched a criminal investigation into his flying 50 Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, pointing out that there was less outrage when 50 migrants died in a truck in Texas over the summer
DeSantis said he felt the Martha’s Vineyard incident was massively successful in getting the country thinking about border security as the midterms approach.
Speaking with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Monday night, DeSantis said: ‘Millions of people since Biden’s been president illegally coming across the southern border. Did they Freak out about that? No.
‘You’ve had migrants die in the Rio Grande. You had fifty die in Texas in a trailer because they were being neglected.’ was there a freak out about that? No, there wasn’t.’
‘It’s only when 50 get put into Martha’s Vineyard – which wasn’t saying they didn’t want this, they said they wanted this, they said they were a sanctuary jurisdiction – these were people who were basically destitute, and then put in a situation where they could have succeeded, but that was all virtue signaling, and not only did they not welcome them, but they deported them the next day with the National Guard. Give me a break.’
Earlier in the day attorneys representing some of the migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard released images of the brochure they were allegedly given.
They described the myriad of assistance programs they would be met with upon their arrival – despite islanders unanimously saying they received no warning the migrants were coming.
DeSantis said the pamphlets were genuine resources provided to the migrants, who he insisted knowingly volunteered to go to Martha’s Vineyard.
‘They all signed consent forms to go. And then the vendor that is doing this for Florida provided them with a packet that had a map of Martha’s Vineyard,’ he said.
‘It had the numbers for different service on Martha’s Vineyard, and then it had numbers for the overall agencies in Massachusetts that hand everything involving immigration and refugees.
‘So it was clearly voluntary, and all the other nonsense you’re hearing is just not true.’ ‘They said they didn’t have housing, they said they couldn’t accommodate.
‘Like let’s just say that is true for a minute – well what does that mean for these poor towns in Texas? What does it mean for these other places across the country that are seeing influx?
‘What does it mean to these small towns that Biden has dumped so many people in?’ He also said he felt the stunt was massively successful in getting the country thinking about border security as the midterms approach.
‘I think what we’ve been able to do is show that this border is a disaster. Biden has failed on this as much or more than any other policy, and now people are talking about it.
‘And we want solutions as Americans, we want to make sure that Trump’s policies of remain in Mexico can be re-instituted, so we can get control over what’s going on down there.’
The migrants were handed brochures titled ‘Massachusetts Refugee Benefits’ and bearing a picture of Edgartown Lighthouse on the cover
In both Spanish and English, the brochure described migrant benefits such as ‘up to 8 months of cash assistance,’ ‘assistance with housing,’ clothing and food, and ‘job placement, retention and upgrade services’
