Bexar County Sheriff announces investigation into how migrants went from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard

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By Amy Simonson, CNN

A Texas sheriff said Monday evening his agency will open an investigation into the transportation of 48 Venezuelan migrants from the state to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, a Democrat, told reporters at a Monday news conference that his understanding was that on Wednesday a Venezuelan migrant was paid a “bird dog fee” to recruit 50 migrants from a resource center in San Antonio.

The sheriff said he believes laws were not only broken in Bexar County in transporting nearly 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard but that parallel laws were also broken on the federal side.

A total of 48 migrants were “lured” to a hotel where they were housed for two days, according to Salazar.

The migrants were flown to Florida and then later transported to Martha’s Vineyard under “false pretenses,” he said.

The sheriff said they were flown to Martha’s Vineyard for “a photo-op and stranded.” He believes the migrants were “exploited and hoodwinked” into making the trip for political posturing.

The sheriff has been speaking with an attorney who represents some of the migrants for first-hand accounts of what took place, Salazar told reporters.

The allegations that he has heard thus far are “disgusting and a violation of human rights,” he said.

Salazar said he believes there needs to be accountability for what happened.

DeSantis says migrants were treated well, signed forms

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has claimed credit for flying the migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. In an interview with Fox News on Monday night, DeSantis defended his decision.

“They all signed consent forms to go and then the vendor that is doing this for Florida provided them with a packet that had a map of Martha’s Vineyard, it has the number for different services that are on Martha’s Vineyard,” DeSantis said.

“Why wouldn’t they want to go, given where they were? They were in really, really bad shape and they got to be cleaned up, everything, treated well,” he added.

When asked earlier about the investigation, DeSantis spokesperson Taryn Fenske gave CNN the following statement: “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. Unless the MA national guard has abandoned these individuals, they have been provided accommodations, sustenance, clothing and more options to succeed following their unfair enticement into the United States, unlike the 53 immigrants who died in a truck found abandoned in Bexar County this June. “

Attorneys for many of the migrants said Monday that brochures given to their clients were “highly misleading” and “used to entice (their) clients to travel under the guise that (resettlement) support was available to them.”

The brochure lists refugee services, including cash and housing assistance, clothing, transportation to job interviews, job training and assistance registering children for school, among other resources.

One Venezuelan migrant, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity for fear of negative impacts on their immigration case, shared images of the brochure. They said migrants were told that the brochure had information on the assistance they would receive in Massachusetts, but they were not told about the differences in programs for refugees and asylum seekers.

Migrants are, in many cases, asylum seekers, not refugees. Refugees apply for protection overseas and are admitted through the refugee admissions program, whereas asylum seekers apply within the United States.

Sheriff would welcome federal help

Salazar told reporters he will be working with federal agencies and welcomes White House assistance.

“Absolutely parts of this case are going to have to go federal, and there’s going to have to be some coordination that goes along with that,” he said. “So absolutely, I would welcome the White House or anybody else from the federal side to give us a call and help us out with whatever they can,” he said.

President Joe Biden met Friday with members of his administration to talk about immigration issues.

A White House official said the meeting had been planned before Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent two busloads of migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington on Thursday and DeSantis sent two planes carrying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.

Biden has accused the Republicans of “playing politics with human beings” and “using them as props” in response to those stunts.

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CNN’s Carolyn Sung, Jamiel Lynch, Steve Almasy, Maria Santana, Polo Sandoval, Priscilla Alvarez and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.