Migrants Flown to Martha’s Vineyard Sue DeSantis Over ‘Fraudulent’ Scheme
Lawyers representing Venezuelan migrants who arrived at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts on orders from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday alleging the Republican and his state’s transportation secretary perpetrated a “fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” against them.
The lawyers filed the suit, on Tuesday afternoon in the United States District Court in Boston, and it stated that the legal asylum-seekers who boarded two flights from Texas to the wealthy island resort were told they would be sent to Boston or Washington, D.C.
The filing further claims that in an effort to mislead the migrants, Florida officials “manufactured” an “official-looking brochure” listing fake benefits. The officials also offered incentives to the migrants, such as $10 McDonald’s gift cards if they boarded the flights.
“These immigrants, who are pursuing the proper channels for lawful immigration status in the United States, experienced cruelty akin to what they fled in their home country,” the lawsuit argues.
“Defendants manipulated them, stripped them of their dignity, deprived them of their liberty, bodily autonomy, due process, and equal protection under law, and impermissibly interfered with the federal government’s exclusive control over immigration in furtherance of an unlawful goal and a personal political agenda,” the document adds.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to find Florida’s actions violated their 4th and 14th Amendment rights, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as state officials “intentionally targeted only individuals who are non-white and born outside the United States.”
Oscar A. Chacón, executive director of case plaintiff Alianza Americas, said in a statement that “for the governor of Florida to cynically use recently arrived immigrants who have applied for asylum in the U.S. to advance a hate-driven agenda intended to create confusion and rejection throughout the country is not only morally despicable but utterly contrary to the best traditions of humanitarian protection embraced by most Americans.”
“That is why we have taken the step to legally challenge what we view not only as a morally reprehensible action but what we believe is also illegal,” he continued.
“We want to do everything we can to prevent more abuses against newly arrived immigrants,” added Chacón, “especially asylum-seekers who deserve support, protection, and recognition for the incredible contributions they make to the U.S., as well as their loved ones in their home countries.”
Originally published at Commondreams.org.