WEST TISBURY, MASS. (WHDH) - The U.S. Department of Treasury will investigate Florida’s spending for flights of migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard last month, making it the first federal agency to get involved.
Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey tweeted the news late Tuesday night.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chartered two flights to transport 50 migrants to the Vineyard. DeSantis said the move was to draw attention to President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
The migrants arrived unannounced with no plans to house them, prompting a humanitarian response. Local lawmakers criticized the surprise flight as “beyond inhumane,” arguing that the migrants were used as political pawns. While the migrants were grateful for the help they received at Martha’s Vineyard, many said they felt like they were lured under false promises. The migrants were then transported on Sept. 16 to Joint Base Cape Cod, where they received better longer-term until earlier this month when many moved to new housing in-state and elsewhere.
A man who recruited the migrants for flights to Martha’s Vineyard told CNN in late September that he felt betrayed by the woman who offered him food and money in exchange for finding migrants who would serve as passengers on flights to Massachusetts. He said the woman, named “Perla,” gave him $10 McDonald’s gift cards to be given to the migrants who agreed to board and told him to say that they and their children would be treated well upon arrival. CNN later identified the woman who allegedly helped arrange the migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard as former counterintelligence agent Perla Huerta.
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