Texas Sheriff Opens Criminal Investigation Into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis After Sending Migrants to Martha’s Vineyard

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has opened a criminal investigation into Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who flew roughly 50 Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses.

The county’s sheriff, Javier Salazar, said in a press conference Monday that the office is now investigating whether the migrants were victims of crimes.

“As we understand it at this point, on Wednesday, September 14, a Venezuelan migrant was paid what we call a bird-dog fee to recruit 50 migrants from the area around a migrant resource center here in San Antonio,” Salazar said at the beginning of the presser.

“About 48 migrants were lured under false pretenses to stay at a hotel for a couple of days and were shuttled by airplane, where they were flown to Florida and then eventually flown to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses of being offered jobs.”

“For what we can gather, a little more than a photo op, a video op, and then they were left there.”

Salazar continued showing his frustration at the fact that the migrants were in the country legally and were preyed upon with promises of jobs and a better life but were instead tricked for what Salazar called “political posturing.”

“When you’re playing with human lives, people that have every right to be here, that does tend to bother me quite a bit. We are absolutely opening an investigation into this,” the sheriff added.

As BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported, DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott have been busing migrants from their states to Democratic-led hubs, including New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C. where two buses of migrants were sent to Vice President Kamala Harris‘ home.

According to Buzzfeed, Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Boston-based advocacy group, is asking the federal government and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey to open criminal investigations.

Despite the outrage of the migrants being sent to other states, some advocates including Abel Nuñez, the executive director of the Central American Resource Center, say the moves will lead to more migrants looking for rides.

“It’s counterintuitive,” Nuñez told Buzzfeed.

“Yes, Abbott is making a point, sure, but this will encourage people on the buses to tell their networks back home, ‘Hey, go to Texas.'”