Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) urged Republican governors to send illegal immigrants to three other Democrat-run areas after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s well-publicized move to send them to Martha’s Vineyard last week.
Like Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket is often used as a vacation spot for the wealthy and powerful. Rehoboth Beach is where President Joe Biden has a vacation house, and Palo Alto, a city located in Silicon Valley, is home to several large tech companies.
For months now, Abbott has been sending illegal immigrants from the U.S.–Mexico border to Democrat-run areas, including New York, Chicago, and Washington—all of which are “sanctuary” cities. The leaders in those areas have sounded the alarm and said their municipalities can’t handle the influx of illegal immigrants, prompting cries of hypocrisy.
On Sept. 15, Abbott sent several buses filled with illegal migrants to Washington before they were dropped off outside the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris. At about the same time, DeSantis sent 50 illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, where former President Barack Obama has a sprawling estate. Within a day, the governor of Massachusetts activated the National Guard and transported the people to a military base on Cape Cod.
Top Democrats, including officials in the White House, have condemned the move, alleging that DeSantis and Abbott are engaging in human trafficking. But the two governors have said that their states can’t handle the massive surge in illegal immigration, that the federal government has the sole authority to carry out deportations, and that the Biden administration’s lax immigration rules are what caused the influx.
The governor also sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and alleged that some “individuals who were transported to Martha’s Vineyard have alleged that a recruiter induced them to accept the offer of travel based on false representations,” although that assertion was disputed by DeSantis in a press conference on Sept. 16.
Cruz suggested to Fox News last week that top Democrats don’t have their priorities in order. He made note of an incident that unfolded earlier this year during which more than 50 illegal aliens were found dead inside a truck near San Antonio.
“You know, the Democrats did not think it was a humanitarian crisis when we pulled over 50 bodies in body bags out of a truck in Texas of illegal immigrants who died because the smugglers let them die of heat exposure,” Cruz said. “And yet, suddenly 50 illegal immigrants show up in lily-white Martha’s Vineyard, where rich liberals and billionaires sip Chardonnay, and it is, it is World War II.”
