Florida confirms migrants voluntarily boarded flights to California, releases videos
Lydia Nusbaum contributed to this report.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (FLV) – The Florida Division of Emergency Management confirmed migrants boarded flights voluntarily to California through Florida’s voluntary relocation program.
Florida’s Voice previously reported that a first flight of 16 migrants were flown to Sacramento by a private plane with documents that appeared to have been issued by Florida on Friday.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said an investigation is underway after a second flight of 20 migrants touched down in Sacramento Monday night.
On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted, “@RonDeSantis you small, pathetic man. This isn’t Martha’s Vineyard. Kidnapping charges?”
However, a Florida Division of Emergency Management spokesperson said in a statement that the volunteers provided written and verbal consent.
“Florida’s voluntary relocation is precisely that – voluntary. Through verbal and written consent, these volunteers indicated they wanted to go to California,” the department said.
The migrants were brought to the Catholic Charities administrative offices in Sacramento.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management said a contractor was present and ensured they made it safely to a third party non-governmental organization. The specific NGO, Catholic Charities, is used and funded by the federal government, according to the division.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management shared a video of migrants signing paperwork, boarding buses and planes.
One video has text caption, “We made it to California, Thank God! Very thankful to God!”
Under Florida’s program, migrants would reportedly be voluntarily transported to sanctuary jurisdictions.
In February 2023, DeSantis signed a bill to allow $10 million to create the “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program” within the Division of Emergency Management. The program had sat previously under the Department of Transportation, where $1.6 million was reportedly spent to send nearly 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
Previously in May of 2023, the Florida legislature approved $12 million to help transport illegal immigrants from the state.
DeSantis said he planned to “spend every penny” of the allotted money to send illegal immigrants to “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
Sanctuary cities are usually those with laws to protect undocumented immigrants from prosecution or deportation, despite federal immigration law. Florida is not a sanctuary state.
California has a “sanctuary state” law, set back in 2017, which limited the ability of local law enforcement to notify federal authorities about the release of undocumented immigrants from jail, according to reports.
“And that way they’re able to go and these sanctuary cities can put their money where their mouth is,” DeSantis explained. “They can provide resources. They can do all of that.”
In September 2022, DeSantis said, “We’re not a sanctuary state. We don’t have benefits or any of that. There are some sanctuary jurisdictions and that would be better. Now what would be best is for Biden to do is damn job and secure the border.”
The division also released a graph showing the history of transportation of illegal immigrants across the nation.
“From left-leaning mayors in El Paso, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, the relocation of those illegally crossing the United States border is not new. But suddenly, when Florida sends illegal aliens to a sanctuary city, it’s false imprisonment and kidnapping,” the division spokesperson said.
