Some of the illegal immigrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 are expected to receive a special visa that would allow them to stay and work, their attorney said.
Those individuals applied last year for what’s known as the U-visa, a special type of immigration status granted to crime victims who are helpful to the authorities in the investigation or prosecution of crimes.
Upon approval, the U-visa is valid for up to four years, although holders can apply for permanent residency after three years. There are only 10,000 U-visas available each year.
At least three of the original 49 passengers received “bona fide determinations” for their U-visa applications, according to Rachel Self, an immigration lawyer who lives near Martha’s Vineyard and has been assisting them since 2022.
No Charges Yet
The development comes about a year after Javier Salazar, the Democrat sheriff for Bexar County where San Antonio is located, filed a completed criminal case with the county district attorney regarding the transportation of the 49 illegal immigrants.“The charge filed is unlawful restraint, and several accounts were filed, both misdemeanor and felony,” Mr. Salazar’s office said last June, not mentioning who was charged.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales, also a Democrat, has yet to formally press any charges.
The legal saga started in September 2022, when Mr. DeSantis took credit for the two flights that shipped illegal immigrants to the doorsteps of the posh liberal vacation island. According to the Republican governor, this was part of his state’s $12 million taxpayer-funded program to relocate willing newcomers to a “sanctuary destination.”
As Mr. DeSantis promised to continue and potentially scale up the relocation effort, it has triggered a torrent of outrage from Democrats, including President Joe Biden, who accused Mr. DeSantis of “playing politics with human beings, using them as props.”
Pushing back against the criticism, Mr. DeSantis called out Democrats for what he saw as hypocrisy when it comes to the suffering of individuals after being “enticed” to illegally cross the border.
In a statement defending the decision to fly the illegal immigrants, the governor’s office argued that all the passengers accepted the one-way plane ticket “voluntarily.”
“Immigrants have been more than willing to leave Bexar County after being abandoned, homeless, and ‘left to fend for themselves.’ Florida gave them an opportunity to seek greener pastures in a sanctuary jurisdiction that offered greater resources for them, as we expected,” a spokesperson for the governor said at that time.
More Flights Expected
Earlier in April, Mr. DeSantis’ administration was handed a legal victory by a federal judge, who dismissed the state defendants from a lawsuit filed by some of the migrant flight passengers on the grounds of lack of evidence.“The court cannot ascertain what actions were undertaken by whom and therefore cannot determine which, if any, of the individual defendants transacted business or caused injury here, leaving it no choice but to find that, at least on this record, personal jurisdiction has not been established,” wrote Judge Allison Burroughs, an Obama-appointee.
However, Judge Burroughs did tell the illegal immigrants that they may pursue their case against Vertol, the Florida-based company that was paid $1.5 million to transport them to Massachusetts.
In response, the governor’s office vowed to book more flights to transport illegal immigrants to out-of-state “sanctuary” communities.
“As we’ve always stated, the flights were conducted lawfully and authorized by the Florida Legislature,” Julia Friedland, a spokeswoman for Mr. DeSantis, said in a statement. “We look forward to Florida’s next illegal immigrant relocation flight, and we are glad to bring national attention to the crisis at the southern border.”
