LOS ANGELES — California and Texas officials are asking the Biden administration to open an investigation into whether Florida acted unlawfully when it sent people seeking asylum to California and Massachusetts over the past 10 months.
California's governor and attorney general and the sheriff in Bexar County, Texas, outlined their concerns Thursday in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“It is unconscionable to use people as political props by persuading them to travel to another state based on false or deceptive representations,” the three Democrats wrote.
“We urge USDOJ to investigate potential violations of federal law by those involved in this scheme."
The letter, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta and Sheriff Javier Salazar, said that while local jurisdictions and nongovernmental organizations often help to relocate migrants, Florida's intentions were more nefarious.
“This scheme is different: according to news reports, recruiters deceived migrants into taking flights to these particular locations based on promises of jobs and shelter,” the letter said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Newsom, Bonta and Salazar said the migrants were allegedly promised jobs, housing and other services, but none were provided when they arrived in Sacramento, California, and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
DeSantis, a Republican now running for president, claimed responsibility for the flights and said everyone had boarded the planes voluntarily. The move spurred a tete-a-tete between DeSantis and Newsom, who called his rival a “small, pathetic man“ and suggested the Florida governor could face kidnapping charges.
About two weeks later, Bonta said his office filed a public records request to DeSantis’ office and the Florida Division of Emergency Management as “part of an ongoing law enforcement investigation into the conditions under which the migrants seeking asylum were brought into California.”
Last year, the Bexar County Sheriff's Department launched an investigation into the September 2022 Martha’s Vineyard flight, which carried some 50 migrants to the wealthy enclave. The investigation concluded that all aboard had been duped into thinking they would be provided with housing, education and employment.
Salazar referred the case to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, which continues to weigh filing criminal charges.
Most of the people flown to Martha’s Vineyard have since relocated to other parts of the state, officials have said.
Separately, Bonta recently opened criminal and civil investigations into the June 2 and June 5 transport of 36 people from Texas to Sacramento.
