September 17, 2022
Rev. Al Sharpton Calls Gov. DeSantis, GOP Out for Using Migrant Relocation to Target Cities With ‘Black Mayors’
In a recent MSNBC appearance, Rev. Al Sharpton speculates “racial notations” behind the relocation of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, orchestrated by Florida governor and presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis.
As reported by ABC News, DeSantis flew 50 undocumented migrants to Martha’s Vineyard Wednesday in protest of the Biden Administration’s immigration policies. The move comes just a few months before the midterm elections, and political officials have argued that DeSantis is using the migrants as “political pawns.”
What @GovRonDeSantis and @GregAbbott_TX are doing isn’t clever, it’s cruel.
I’m formally requesting the DOJ begin an immediate investigation into these inhumane efforts to use kids as political pawns. pic.twitter.com/x2sBa06nSw
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 15, 2022
During MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Sharpton compares the relocation to the way segregationists bussed Black families to Massachusetts with the false promise to voice their civil rights concerns with then-President John F. Kennedy.
“It was a bogus trip,” Sharpton recalled.
“They got to Massachusetts. There was no John Kennedy. There was no discussion.”
“They’re using these migrants in the same way with the same false promises,” Sharpton declared.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has flown two planes of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. #MorningJoe pic.twitter.com/1S3NOwFO3U
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) September 16, 2022
The civil rights activist also challenged DeSantis and other GOP (Grand Old Party) leaders’ intentions behind relocating migrants to major cities where successful Black Americans and Black mayors reside, including New York, Washington D.C., and Chicago. He claims these cities were deliberately targeted. Sharpton used Barack Obama as the “most well-known person” on Martha’s Vineyard as an example.
“So a lot of little racial notation ought to be raised here on what they did that reminds me of the segregationist strategy in the 60s of using busses, and now we’re seeing mayors being overwhelmed by this,” Sharpton concluded his argument, per Fox News.
“This does not take away from the fact that we have legitimate problems at the border, the border is not secure,” adding that the current response to the problem is “troubling to me.”