Sixteen Venezuelan and Colombian migrants who entered the country across the southern border and entered Texas were flown on a chartered plane to California and dropped off at a church in Sacramento, Gov. Gavin Newsom and migrant rights advocates said.
The young men and women were dropped off Friday outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento without “advance warning” and each with only a backpack worth of belongings, said Eddie Carmona, campaign manager with PICO California, a faith-based community organizing group that has helped the migrants.
The migrants had already been dealt with by U.S. immigration officials and were given a hearing date for their asylum cases when “individuals representing a private contractor” approached them outside a migrant center in El Paso, Texas, Carmona said.
They offered to help the migrants find jobs and take them to their final destination, he said.
16 Venezuelan and Colombian migrants who entered the US via Texas were transported by private plane to Sacramento, California and left outside a church, pictured
A humanitarian group is trying to see if the migrants have been duped, misled and unaware of their whereabouts. Pictured are migrants at the border in Mexico before entering the US
“They were lied to and deliberately duped,” Carmona said, adding that the migrants had no idea where they were after being dropped off in Sacramento.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg compared the act to that of human trafficking.
“Whoever’s behind this needs to answer this: Is there anything crueler than using scared people to score cheap political points?” Steinberg asked in a statement.
Sacramento represents the best of American values. We always welcome “the weary, the poor, and the huddled masses,” and we always will.”
Governor Newsom said he and Attorney General Rob Bonta met the group of migrants on Saturday and learned they had been transported from Texas to New Mexico and then flown to Sacramento on a private jet.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said he is working with the California Department of Justice to find out if there has been any criminal misconduct, including who paid for the group’s travel.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who last month announced his 2024 presidential bid, has been heavily criticized for his tough stance on immigration. He will be photographed in Iowa on Sunday
Bonta said the migrants had documents “supposedly from the Florida state government.”
“State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a choice of government policy, it is immoral and disgusting,” Bonta wrote.
“We are a nation built by immigrants and we must condemn the cruelty and hateful rhetoric of those, whether state leaders or private parties, who refuse to recognize humanity and turn their backs on the granting of dignity and care to fellow human beings. ‘ he continued.
Bonta said his agency was “investigating the circumstances that brought these individuals to California” and “evaluating the possible criminal or civil action against those who transported or arranged for these vulnerable immigrants.”
For the past year, Republican governors in Texas and Florida have bussed and jetted migrants without warning to Democratic strongholds and so-called Sanctuary Cities, including New York City, Chicago and Washington DC.
The group said the migrants must all appear pending court appearances and that transporting them to California under false pretenses disrupts their legal process.
Newsom said he is also working with the California Department of Justice to find out if any criminal misconduct occurred, including who paid for the group’s trip and “whether the individuals who organized this trip misled anyone with false promises or criminal charges.” violated any laws, including kidnapping. .’
“We are working closely with the mayor’s office, along with local and non-profit partners to ensure that the people who have arrived are treated with respect and dignity and reach their intended destinations while continuing their immigration affairs,” Newsom said in a statement.
“What happened recently with the fraudulent deposition of our undocumented brothers and sisters in the Sacramento area saddens me. This politically polarizing act is heartbreaking, yet I rejoice to be part of a movement that is bringing the love of God and goodwill to the injustice and political corruption that afflicts our vulnerable brothers and sisters,” said Rev. Efrem Smith, president of ACT in Sacramento. , said the Sacramento bee.
Rabbi Mona Alfi of Congregation B’nai Israel told the newspaper that what happened to the migrants was “a moral travesty” and that “these are people, no different from you or me, who just want to provide for their families and live a live peacefully, and they deserve to be treated better.’
For the past year, Republican governors in Texas and Florida have bussed and jetted migrants into Democratic strongholds and so-called Sanctuary Cities, including New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C., without prior warning as part of a campaign to draw attention to what they say it is the Biden administration’s failed border policy.
DeSantis, who last month announced his 2024 presidential bid and has been heavily criticized for his tough stance on immigration, is expected to come to Sacramento himself on June 19 for a $3,300-per-seat fundraising breakfast.
Newsom has spoken out — and aired ads in Florida — against DeSantis, whom he labeled “America’s number one bully,” since they were both elected in 2018.