Migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard arrived from Florida, sent by Gov. Ron DeSantis
50 migrants — men, women and children as young as 3 — who had spent the night on church property after arriving unexpectedly late Wednesday afternoon on one-way charter flights, walked between the church and the parish house.
Community organizations and residents had come on Thursday to help, as did students from an advanced placement Spanish class from the high school. The students came with their teacher, Justine DeOliviera, to help with translation.
Community members who were helping the migrants, many if not all of whom are from Venezuela, asked that reporters not speak with the island visitors, citing a concern that the migrants would endanger their situation.
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DeOliviera politely declined to talk to a reporter, as did the students.
“We’re just trying to give them shelter and keep them safe,” Marrin said.
At 10 a.m. Thursday, officials were still trying to complete information about the migrants, such as where they came from, what airplane company delivered them unannounced on Wednesday, and what the next steps would be.
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Immigrants walked from Martha’s Vineyard Airport seeking help
Seadale said the arrivals simply walked out of Martha’s Vineyard Airport and went on foot “several miles” to the community service center — across from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School — arriving just as the center was closing. They were taken to Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School for a snack, he said, before boarding buses that took them to the church.
St. Andrew’s staff has reached out to a contact that works with the island’s food banks and the Greater Boston Food Bank about arranging meals for the unexpected arrivals, Seadale said.
“I think anyone hearing about this story who wants to help should pay attention to local news reports,” he said, “because we may need meals cooked in the next few days.”
Martha’s Vineyard officials were not sure where the planes came from
The Martha’s Vineyard Times is reporting that West Tisbury Town Administrator Jennifer Rand told selectmen, at their meeting late Wednesday afternoon, that only one plane had landed but more are expected. She and other officials were not sure where the plane or planes had originated.
In an interview with foxnews.com Wednesday evening, Taryn Fenske, DeSantis’ communications director, said, “Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha’s Vineyard today were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destination.”
Obama owns a home on Martha’s Vineyard along with people in the entertainment industry.
DeSantis’ immigration policies include a plan to use $12 million to pay for the transportation of undocumented immigrants dropped in Florida from the U.S.-Mexico border, the Tallahassee Democrat reported last month.
The Biden administration’s border security and immigration policies have become a favorite target for DeSantis and other Republicans nationwide, the paper reported. The debate ratcheted up earlier this year when two GOP governors — Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona — called out Biden and sent busloads of migrants from their border states to New York City and Washington.
By late August, almost 8,000 migrants have arrived on state-sponsored bus trips, straining resources and humanitarian services of both cities, which have also sought assistance from the federal government.
Contributing: Anne Brennan, Cape Cod Times; John Kennedy, Tallahassee Democrat
Contact Gwenn Friss at gfriss@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @dailyrecipe.