Rep. Morgan Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL representing a district on the east side of Texas, said he supports the flights of migrants from the southern border to California that Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has called “kidnapping.”
Sixteen young Venezuelan and Colombian men and women were dropped off Friday outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento after flying from Texas via New Mexico to the California state capital. A second shipment of 20 migrants arrived on Monday.
Luttrell told DailyMail.com during an exclusive interview on Tuesday that he had just seen Newsom’s “ridiculous” response.
“I’m all for it,” he said of the flights, adding that Texas “shouldn’t be the only one concerned” about the massive influx of migrants causing chaos in border towns.
“If you don’t care, we will. And we help. The cities around Washington, DC, Chicago and New York are complaining of tens of thousands of migrants. We have tens of thousands a day. You can’t argue with me,” Luttrell continued.
Sixteen young Venezuelan and Colombian men and women were dropped off Friday outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento after flying from Texas via New Mexico to the California capital.
He added that the state is “doing everything it can” to help law enforcement and everyday Texans deal with the influx — which reached up to 10,000 illegal entries in the days leading up to the end of COVID-era Title 42, which prompted rapid evictions. possible at the border.
Border Patrol agents saw a 50 percent drop in the number of migrants crossing from Mexico to the US after the official end of Title 42 on May 11, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. border towns.
“My Texans there on the border are losing farms. The infrastructure of the city itself, whether it’s police, first responders, supermarkets, restaurants, they’re just ready,” Luttrell, who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, told DailyMail.com.
The massive influx of migrants is also forcing people to sell their ranches as they lose their livestock.
“If a fence is broken down and cattle take to the road and someone hits the cattle, it’s the farmer’s fault,” he added. “And you know, that’s just unacceptable.”
Luttrell called HR 2, a sweeping immigration and border security bill passed by the House last month by a vote of 219 to 213, a “great stepping stone” for border security, but there’s more to do.
According to local county sheriffs, migrants are moving deeper and deeper into Texas into quieter, more rural counties, and the small local population is feeling the impact, the Texas congressman added.
Luttrell told DailyMail.com that one county’s school district was so “overwhelmed” by migrants that alternative buildings and teachers had to be brought in at the expense of local residents.
As for what else the Homeland Committee can do at this convention to address the migrant crisis, Luttrell said there is an immediate need to “take the handcuffs off our CBP” and let them get to work.
“Unfortunately, the administration doesn’t allow that, so there’s this friction we have.”
The migrant flights are the latest effort to move individuals from border towns into the US interior to spread congestion. Busloads of migrants from Texas have recently been sent to liberal-led Chicago and Washington, DC
Gov. Newsom said he is working with the California Department of Justice to find out if there has been any criminal misconduct related to the recent flights, including who paid for the group’s travel and “whether the individuals who organized this trip have misled with false promises or have violated’. all criminal laws, including kidnapping.”
He has also directly accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of “kidnapping” for organizing and financing the flights, but it’s still not immediately clear who’s behind it.
The governor of California tweeted to Ron DeSantis on Monday, saying, “You pathetic little man. This isn’t Martha’s Vineyard.”
He was referring to DeSantis’ decision to send a group of migrants from Venezuela to the posh Massachusetts vacation destination.
Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL representing a district on the east side of Texas, said he supports the flights of migrants from the Texas border to California, which Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom calls “kidnapping.”
More than a dozen Venezuelan and Colombian migrants who entered the US via Texas were transported by private plane to Sacramento, California, and departed outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, pictured
California Governor Newsom tweeted to Ron DeSantis on Monday, saying, “You little pathetic man. This ain’t Martha’s Vineyard’
State Attorney General Rob Bonta said the migrants had documents that would show they had arrived from Florida.
“State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a choice of government policy, it is immoral and disgusting,” Bonta wrote in a statement.
According to state officials, the migrants had already been processed by US immigration officials and given a hearing date for their asylum cases when “persons representing a private contractor” approached them outside a migrant center in El Paso, Texas.
“They were lied to and deliberately duped,” said Eddie Carmona, campaign manager at PICO California, a faith-based community organization that has been advising the migrants.
He added that the migrants had no idea where they were after being dropped off in Sacramento.