Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has slammed the GOP governors who sent groups of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and Washington DC as guilty of ‘crimes against humanity’.
Without naming them directly, the progressive New York Democrat excoriated Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott in a series of tweets on Friday.
‘It’s appalling that far-right politicians seem to have decided that fall before an election is their regularly scheduled time to commit crimes against humanity on refugees,’ she wrote.
‘Don’t normalize this. Lying to & trafficking people for TV and clicks isn’t politics as usual. It’s abuse,’ added Ocasio-Cortez.
It follows high-profile incidents this week, in which DeSantis flew roughly 50 Venezuelan migrants who entered the US illegally to the wealthy Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard.
As well Abbott sent two buses full of migrants from the Texas border to Vice President Kamala Harris’ official residence in DC.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has slammed the GOP governors who sent groups of refugees to Martha’s Vineyard and Washington DC as guilty of ‘crimes against humanity’
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (left) and Texas Governor Greg Abbott (right) were behind the high-profile incidents transporting migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and DC this week
Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has also been busing migrants to Washington DC since May.
The states claim that passengers must sign waivers that the free trips are voluntary, but some of the migrants say they were misled about their destination.
The GOP governors say the stunts are intended to force federal action on the southern border crisis, and spread the impact of record-breaking illegal border crossing to areas that proclaim themselves immigration sanctuaries.
‘Texas will continue sending migrants to sanctuary cities like Washington, D.C. until President Biden and Border Czar Harris step up and do their jobs to secure the border,’ Abbott said in a statement on Thursday.
But Ocasio-Cortez slammed the moves as small-minded and misguided.
‘What a lot of Republican politicians fail to understand is that not everyone shares their zero-sum, scarcity mindset,’ the congresswoman tweeted.
‘Many of us understand that immigrants and refugees are a blessing. They have so much to offer our country, & much of our growth as a nation is because of them, she added.
DeSantis flew roughly 50 Venezuelan migrants to the wealthy Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard (above), but the group was quickly ferried to a base on Cape Cod
Abbott sent two buses full of migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’ official residence in DC on Thursday, saying the move was to force federal action on the border crisis
‘By today’s standards, most US families would have be deemed undocumented or trafficked at some point in their family history,’ the New York Democrat wrote.
‘For the most part, people didn’t need lawyers and years of processing to come to this US until immigration became a racialized issue. Remember that,’ she continued.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that the Venezuelan migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday were told they were going to Boston.
‘They were told, ‘You have a hearing in San Antonio, but don’t worry, we’ll take you to Boston,’ Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, the executive director for Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston, told the New York Times.
He said that dozens of migrants in the group learned that they were headed for Martha’s Vineyard, the wealthy island enclave, when their plane was in mid-air.
He said dozens of the migrants had told his team they only had been informed midair that they were going to land in tony Martha’s Vineyard rather than Boston.
‘They were also told there would be employment opportunities and immigration relief available to them if they boarded the plane,’ said Espinoza-Madrigal.
‘That’s not only state interference with federal immigration matters, it’s also a violation of our clients’ civil rights.’
The lawyer vowed to seek a federal injunction halting the interstate flights full of migrants, saying they were violations of due process.
The Martha’s Vineyard group was quickly ferried off the island on Friday to a military base on Cap Cod, where officials said there were more resources to support them.
Martha’s Vineyard declared an emergency over the migrants and called in the National Guard, prompting the immigrants to be moved 32 miles away to Cape Cod
Pictured: A group of 50 migrants enjoyed Venezuelan dishes at the military base after Martha’s Vineyard declared an emergency over the group’s arrival
DeSantis said Friday that most migrants intended to come to Florida and that the trip to Martha´s Vineyard was voluntary. He did not address the migrants’ claims that they were told they were going elsewhere.
US Rep Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, accused DeSantis of orchestrating a political ploy with the lives of the migrants.
‘Playing politics with people’s lives is what governors like George Wallace did during segregation,’ Moulton said, referring to Wallace’s tactics of tricking black Southerners to move north. ‘Ron DeSantis is trying to earn George Wallace’s legacy.’
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also took aim at DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a press conference today, urging other Republicans who do not agree with their ‘blueprint’ to ‘speak up’.
She said: ‘This is an issue and we have been clear about this, this is an issue that is inhumane it is abhorrent and we should not be using people, migrants, who are fleeing communism as a political pawn.’
Speaking on Thursday, DaSantis accused critics of his move to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard of ‘virtue signaling’, saying their concern for the welfare of the migrants was a ‘fraud’.
He said: ‘The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they go berserk, and they’re so upset that this is happening.’