Earlier this week, Florida governor Ron DeSantis took credit for sending two planes filled with migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, much to the delight of late-night television hosts. Several joked about DeSantis’ action, which was apparently part of a program to transport undocumented immigrants to so-called sanctuary destinations.
“Ron DeSantis is the governor of Florida, so why is he grabbing refugees in Texas and shipping them to Massachusetts, huh?” Trevor Noah asked on The Daily Show. “Why? So he can prove that America’s immigration system is broken? Yeah, everyone knows that. But instead of pushing lawmakers to actually reform the system, he’s using taxpayer money to, what, go viral?”
He continued, “If you told DeSantis to spend the same amount of money helping these asylum seekers, he’d be like, ‘Oh, we don’t have the funding for that,’ but to troll the Democrats, suddenly he’s like, ‘Put it on my card, yeah!”
Noah added that DeSantis’ plan is just another example of U.S. leaders mistreating non-white people. “And by the way, America actually has a history of doing this,” Noah said. “In the 1960s, racist organizations in the South shipped Black people up to Northern states to make liberals uncomfortable. But Ron DeSantis obviously doesn’t know about that, because the pages in his history books were torn out in his state.”
On The Late Show, host Stephen Colbert also questioned DeSantis’ decision making.
“Yesterday, DeSantis flew two planes of Hispanic immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard,” Colbert told the audience. “Hey, Ron, if you’re trying to discourage immigration, maybe don’t send people to one of the loveliest parts of New England just in time for leaf-peeping season.”
He added, “Yeah, DeSantis owned those Libs by making them look compassionate. Just like that cuck Jesus. Send that guy a truckload of lepers and see how he likes it.”
Meanwhile, on Jimmy Kimmel Live host Jimmy Kimmel used his monologue as an opportunity to note that “Ron DeSantis doesn’t know about the Statue of Liberty.”
“Ron DeSantis is that guy you went to high school with who desperately wanted to be prom king but didn’t have any charisma, so instead, he just pulled the fire alarm and ruined the dance for everybody,” Kimmel added.
Approximately 50 Venezuelan and Colombian migrants landed in Martha’s Vineyard airport Wednesday afternoon, and were left to find their way into the town with little to no information about where they were or where to go for resources. State Rep. Dylan Fernandes told the Vineyard Gazette that some of the migrants were “told they would receive housing and jobs immediately upon arrival,” yet the island was not notified of the transport before it landed.
The migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard claim they were lured into boarding the flight with deceptive promises that they’d be taken to Boston for work opportunities and expedited papers, something experts say could constitute a violation of federal law. DeSantis used Florida taxpayer money to pay for the flights, but they originated in Texas.
Transporting migrants away from the border is legally dubious, and during the Trump administration ICE officials rejected a similar scheme proposed by White House adviser Stephen Miller due to liability concerns. The Martha’s Vineyard stunt could be especially problematic considering the reports that the migrants were duped about where they were being taken.
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