EDGARTOWN, Mass. -- Republican governors are escalating their partisan tactic of sending migrants to Democratic strongholds without advance warning, including a wealthy summer enclave in Massachusetts and the home of Vice President Kamala Harris, to taunt leaders of immigrant-friendly "sanctuary" cities and stoke opposition to Biden administration border policies.
The governors of Texas and Arizona have sent thousands of migrants on buses to New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., in recent months. But the latest surprise moves -- which included two flights to Martha's Vineyard Wednesday paid for by Florida -- reached a new level of political theater that critics derided as inhumane.
Upon arrival in Martha's Vineyard, where former President Barack Obama has a home, the migrants who are predominantly from Venezuela were provided with meals, shelter, health care and information about where to find work.
The vacation island south of Boston, whose year-round residents include many blue-collar workers, appeared to absorb the dozens of arrivals without a major hitch.
Elizabeth Folcarelli, chief executive of the nonprofit Martha's Vineyard Community Services, was wrapping up work when she saw 48 Venezuelans with luggage and backpacks approach her office. They carried red folders with brochures for her organization.
"They were told that they would have a job. and they would have housing," said Folcarelli, who described the scramble for shelter as a "huge challenge."
Migrants played soccer and hung out in small groups on the porch of their temporary shelter Thursday while meeting visiting attorneys who gave free advice and other service providers.
Well-wishers dropped off donations, and volunteers signed up to provide whatever help the could offer. There were no signs of protest.
The president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Domingo Garcia, said that some of the migrants sent on buses from Texas to Washington, D.C. were "tricked" -- an allegation that The Associated Press has not confirmed and that officials in Texas and Arizona have denied.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the flights to Martha's Vineyard were part of an effort to "transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations." The Florida Legislature has earmarked $12 million to transport "unauthorized aliens" out of state.
DeSantis' office didn't answer questions about where migrants boarded planes and how they were coaxed into making the trip.
Massachusetts state Sen. Julian Cyr told The Vineyard Gazette that one plane originated in San Antonio, raising questions about whether migrants ever set foot in Florida. Flight tracking data shows a flight originated in San Antonio, stopped in Crestview, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., before landing in Martha's Vineyard.
The two buses of migrants from Texas that arrived early Thursday outside Harris' residence at the United States Naval Observatory carried more than 100 migrants from Colombia, Cuba, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela.
"The Biden-Harris administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years," said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has poured billions of taxpayer dollars into making border security a signature issue.
After migrants seeking asylum cross the U.S.-Mexico border, they spend time in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility along the border until they are generally released into the U.S. to wait out their cases. Republicans say Biden's policies encourage migrants to vanish into the U.S.; Democrats argue the Trump-era policy of forcing migrants to wait out their asylum cases in Mexico was inhumane.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that federal officials were not told in advance by the Republican governors who sent the migrants to Massachusetts and Washington.
"We're talking about children, we're talking about families who were promised a home, promised a job, put on a bus and driven to a place that they do not know," said Jean-Pierre, who called the governors' actions a "cruel, premeditated political stunt."
Abbott has bused 7,900 migrants to Washington since April, later sending 2,200 to New York and 300 to Chicago. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has bused more than 1,800 migrants to Washington since May. Passengers must sign waivers that the free trips are voluntary.
DeSantis appears to be taking the strategy to a new level by using planes and choosing Martha's Vineyard, whose harbor towns that are home to about 15,000 people are far less prepared than New York or Washington for large influxes of migrants.
Texas and Florida have infuriated officials in destination cities by failing to provide passenger rosters, estimated times of arrival and other information that would make it easier to prepare. In contrast, Arizona has coordinated with officials in other cities.
President Joe Biden is facing the same challenges that dogged his predecessor, former President Donald Trump: a dysfunctional asylum system in the United States, and economic and social conditions that are prompting people from dozens of countries to flee.
U.S. authorities stopped migrants crossing from Mexico about 2 million times from October through July, up nearly 50% from the same period a year earlier. Many are released in the United States to pursue their immigration cases because U.S. authorities have struggled to expel them to their countries under a pandemic-era rule that denies them a chance to seek asylum.
Some Republicans celebrated the latest delivery of migrants from border states.
"Welcome to being a state on the Southern border, Massachusetts," tweeted DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern.
Stephen Miller, a chief architect of Trump's immigration policies, said bringing "a few million" migrants to Martha's Vineyard should transform the island of about 15,000 people into "a modern Eden."
Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist said DeSantis is treating the migrants inhumanely. "It's amazing to me what he's willing to do for sheer political gain," Crist said.
Talia Inlender, deputy director of UCLA's Center for Immigration Law and Policy, said the flights to Martha's Vineyard appear to violate Florida law that they be limited to "unauthorized aliens."
"These folks are not unauthorized," she said. "They aren't flying under the radar in any way."
CUTTING COSTS?
A day after DeSantis took credit for sending undocumented immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, the governor suggested at a news conference on Thursday that his efforts prevented those migrants from ever making it into Florida.
"One of the reasons why we want to transfer [people is] because, obviously it's expensive if people are coming here, you got to pay taxes, social services and all these other things," DeSantis said at a Thursday news conference in Niceville, which is just north of Fort Walton Beach in the panhandle.
If Florida can send people to so-called sanctuary cities instead, "Well, then the chance that they come to Florida goes down dramatically," he said.
His comments raise questions about Florida's plans to relocate undocumented immigrants, in protest of President Joe Biden's immigration policies. DeSantis' administration is only allowed to "transport unauthorized aliens from this state," according to budget language approved by state lawmakers this year.
The governor's office did not immediately respond when asked whether the migrants had moved to Florida or whether the state-funded program helped transport migrants from another state. DeSantis provided no details about the flights during a Thursday news conference.
DeSantis' office took credit for sending two planes with migrants to the summer resort island south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Wednesday night. Massachusetts state and local officials, and migrants, meanwhile, have told some news outlets that they had been in Texas prior to boarding the flight.
Texas' Abbott denied any involvement in chartering the flights to Martha's Vineyard.
"Our office has had conversations with Governor DeSantis and his team about supporting our busing strategy to provide much-needed relief to our overwhelmed and overrun border communities. Though we were not involved in these initial planes to Martha's Vineyard, we appreciate the support in responding to this national crisis and helping Texans," Renae Eze, Abbott's press secretary, said in a statement.
"If you have folks that are inclined to think Florida is a good place, our message to them is we are not a sanctuary state, and it's better to be able to go into a sanctuary jurisdiction," DeSantis said Thursday. "And yes, we will help facilitate that transport for you, to be able to go to greener pastures."
He compared it to a long-standing federal program to relocate asylum-seekers and other migrants from the border.
"Biden would fly people in the middle of the night, dump them all across this country," DeSantis said. "There was no warning on any of this. They're doing it and they're farming people out all around."
When announcing his proposal in December to spend money to move migrants out of the state, DeSantis threatened to send them to Martha's Vineyard.
"If you sent them to Delaware or Martha's Vineyard or some of these places, that border would be secure the next day," he said at the time.
CALL FOR INVESTIGATION
Gov. Gavin Newsom called Thursday for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' decision to fly several immigrant families to Martha's Vineyard.
"This is nothing more than a stunt, but it's done with the cruel intention to humiliate and dehumanize children no older than the governor's children themselves," Newsom said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee editorial board.
"It's a disgrace, it's repugnant, and, I would argue, it's illegal."
Newsom sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Thursday, imploring him to investigate any potential criminal or civil violations, particularly any "charges of kidnapping" after alleged "fraudulent inducement."
Newsom called DeSantis and his fellow GOP governors "functional authoritarians," and said that the Republican Party "has crossed the rubicon of any decency."
Newsom was joined by the Biden Administration, who also spoke out against DeSantis' political maneuvering. But when asked if they were going to take legal action, said they will refer to the Department of Justice.
The GOP is "100%" a threat to democracy, Newsom said. The election "is a profound and existential moment" for the Democratic party.
"Democracy is at risk with functional authoritarians," Newsom said of the GOP on Thursday.
Information for this article was contributed by Rodrique Ngowi, Steve LeBlanc, Seung Min Kim, Brendan Farrington, Gisela Salomon, Anita Snow and Paul Weber of The Associated Press, Ana Ceballos and Lawrence Mower of The Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau (TNS), and by Jenavieve Hatch of The Sacramento Bee (TNS).
Immigrants gather with their belongings outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Wednesday Sept. 14, 2022, in Edgartown, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday flew two planes of immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration's failed border policies. (Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette via AP)
FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to a crowd of supporters during the Keep Florida Free Tour on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. DeSantis on Wednesday, Sept. 14 flew two planes of immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration's failed border policies. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP, File)
A woman, who is part of a group of immigrants that had just arrived, holds a child as they are fed outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Wednesday Sept. 14, 2022, in Edgartown, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday flew two planes of immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration's failed border policies. (Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette via AP)
Immigrants gather with their belongings outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Wednesday Sept. 14, 2022, in Edgartown, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday flew two planes of immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration's failed border policies. (Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette via AP)
Venezuelan immigrants, among two planeloads flown in by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, gather Thursday outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Edgartown, Mass., on Martha’s Vineyard. The arrivals were met with helpful residents who provided food, housing, health care and advice on where to find work. (AP/The Cape Cod Times/Ron Schloerb)