"States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration,” said a spokesperson for DeSantis. It is the latest move by Republican politicians, including the governors of Texas and Arizona, to try and stretch Democratic states’ social safety-nets thin in an effort to antagonize the Biden administration and the Democratic party over immigration policies.
About 50 asylum seekers from Venezuela were packed into a small parish house near St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown, where resources to assist them were sparse, including limited housing options. The asylum seekers were also given false information on where they were going. Some believed they were being taken to New York City, while others were told they were being taken to Boston.
"We have the governor of Florida... hatching a secret plot to send immigrant families like cattle on an airplane," said state Representative Dylan Fernandes, who represents Martha's Vineyard. "Ship them women and children to a place they weren't told where they were going and never alerted local officials and people on the ground here that they were coming. It is an incredibly inhumane and depraved thing to do."
The asylum seekers have since been moved to Joint Base Cape Cod, where they will be provided shelter, food and other assistance, according to an announcement made by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker on Friday.