Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is defending his decision to send migrants who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to California.
The latest political stunt took place last Friday (June 2) when 16 undocumented migrants were flown on a chartered plane from El Paso to Sacramento and left outside a church. It’s been confirmed that Florida was behind the decision to send them to California.
DeSantis argues that migrants crossing the border should be sent to sanctuary cities. “I think the border should be closed,” he said during a stop in Arizona on Wednesday (June 7). “I don’t think we should have any of this. But if there’s a policy to have an open border, then I think the sanctuary jurisdictions should be the ones that have to bear that.”
The Governor pulled the same stunt last September when Florida transported about four dozen Venezuelans to Martha’s Vineyard in another misguided protest against U.S. immigration policy. “We are not a sanctuary state, and it’s better to be able to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction,” DeSantis said at the time. “And yes, we will help facilitate that transport for you to be able to go to greener pastures.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t mince words after DeSantis’ latest move. He called the Florida governor a “small, pathetic man” for arranging the flights. Newsom and other officials in California have suggested that DeSantis could face criminal charges. An investigation is currently underway to find out if any laws were broken.
“Now, who’s ultimately accountable and responsible?” Newsom told TODAY. “I mean, the buck should stop with Ron DeSantis and the games he’s playing. But it’s the folks on the front lines that were doing the dirty work. And that’s ultimately what we have to determine, is where the culpability lands and resides.”