The Democrat sheriff that opened an investigation Monday into 50 illegal immigrants that were sent to Martha’s Vineyard last week by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) said during a press conference that he was “not able” to point to any laws that were broken but just said “it’s wrong.” Salazar also did not name any suspects.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar claimed that the migrants were “lured” into making the flight, even though a Florida publication reported that they obtained a brochure given to the illegal immigrants that showed that Massachusetts is where they were going.
“That does tend to bother me quite a bit,” Salazar said. “And so we are absolutely opening up an investigation into this.”
“I believe people need to be held accountable for it to the extent possible,” he said. “At this point, I’m not able to definitively say here’s the statute that they broke either federal, state or local. But what I can tell you is it’s wrong just from a human rights perspective, what was done to these folks is wrong.”
“From now on out, we’re hoping to talk to some of these these victims and witnesses firsthand to find out what was said what was done, how were you lured into this, and then the full extent of how they were placed in harm’s way,” he continued. “At that point, we will make the determination if there was any criminal activity. Certainly, I can tell you right now, the allegations that we’ve heard, is absolutely distasteful. It’s disgusting.”
DeSantis said at a press conference that the people who were contracted gave the illegal immigrants a release form to sign and a packet that included a map of Martha’s Vineyard. “So it was obvious that that’s where they were going and they gave that to them,” DeSantis added.
Florida’s Voice reported Monday that they obtained one of the brochures that the illegal immigrants were given prior to heading to Martha’s Vineyard. The publication said that they confirmed the information with the governor’s office.
The brochure, which is written in both English and Spanish, is titled: “Massachusetts Refugee Benefits/Massachusetts Beneficios para Refugiados,” and includes pictures of Massachusetts.
Florida’s Voice said that the brochure contained information “directly from the Massachusetts government website.”
BREAKING: Florida's Voice has confirmed with Ron DeSantis' office the below brochure was given to migrants who were voluntarily flown to Martha's Vineyard
The brochure contains information directly from the Massachusetts government website pic.twitter.com/IPRO4UD4ad
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) September 19, 2022
This report has been updated to include additional information.