Second Flight Carrying Migrants With Florida Papers Lands in CA
A second flight carrying roughly 20 migrants landed in Sacramento on Monday.
Another plane arrived over the weekend.
Officials suspect Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is behind it.
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A second plane carrying roughly 20 migrants landed in Sacramento, California, on Monday, and the people involved were carrying paperwork that links them to Florida, the California attorney general's office said.
Special agents from the California Department of Justice were on the ground with the migrants at the airport, representatives from the office told Insider.
Monday's revelation comes after 16 migrants from Venezuela and Colombia arrived by plane on Friday and were dropped off at a Catholic church. All migrants were picked up in Al Paso, Texas, and carried paperwork tied to Florida's emergency management division, as well as contractor Vertol Systems Company, which administered the travel.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who is also a 2024 presidential candidate, has yet to speak publicly about the matter. His office did not reply to a series of questions from Insider, but in September the governor acknowledged his administration orchestrated another plane carrying 49 migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
DeSantis often boasts about the Martha's Vineyard stunt in speeches, including on the 2024 presidential campaign trail.
It's just one of the surprise announcements DeSantis frequently rolled out during his first term. These announcements create significant backlash, gin up publicity, land national headlines, and cause liberals to seethe — while endearing himself to conservatives. He used the playbook during the 2022 campaign, where he bested his Democratic challenger, former Rep. Charlie Crist, by almost 20 points.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested on Twitter that investigators were considering kidnapping charges under the state's laws and called DeSantis a "small, pathetic man."
He and California Attorney General Rob Bonta have already said they think DeSantis is responsible for the flights. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Bonta accused DeSantis of demonstrating "pettiness, lack of substance," as well as "xenophobia," "discrimination and racism."
Asked to weigh in Monday, before news of the second flight was made public, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the practice of relocating migrants "dangerous and unacceptable."
"You're putting a lot of pressure on these state and local areas," she said in a press conference.
A Florida emergency division representative confirmed the office hadn't released a statement about the flights but didn't respond to a list of questions from Insider.
On Monday, a sheriff in Texas recommended charges be brought in connection to the Martha's Vineyard flights. The county district attorney will consider the recommendations and decide whether to prosecute the case.
If DeSantis is behind the latest round of flights, it would mean he is taking direct aim at Newsom, who has criticized DeSantis' policies and whose government is centered in Sacramento, the state's capital. Newsom is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, perhaps even a presidential contender someday, but has said he fully supports President Joe Biden's reelection bid.
Source: Business Insider
