The group of Venezuelan migrants flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, last week by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, filed a class action lawsuit against the governor and the state secretary of transportation this Tuesday.
The lawsuit provides a detailed description of how the immigrants came to board the two planes allegedly under false pretenses, arguing that the relocations violated their rights under the Fourth and 14 th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“These immigrants, seeking the proper channels to obtain legal immigration status in the United States, experienced cruelty similar to the one they fled in their country of origin,” the lawsuit alleges.
“The defendants manipulated them, stripped them of their dignity, They were deprived of their liberty, bodily autonomy, due process, and equal protection. n before the law, and impermissibly interfered with the federal government’s exclusive control over immigration to further an unlawful goal and personal political agenda,” it continues.
The lawsuit, filed in federal trial court in Massachusetts, asks you to a judge to declare the DeSantis relocations illegal under the Constitution and federal and state laws. It also asks the judge to prevent Florida from inducing immigrants to travel through state laws through fraud and misrepresentation.
DeSantis became the last Republican governor to resettle immigrants in the areas of the north of the country in protest against the immigration policies of President Biden and the so-called “sanctuary cities”.
The governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, has transported the immigrants to Washington, DC, while Texas Governor Greg Abbott has sent people to DC, New York City and Chicago, arguing the measures relieve border communities overwhelmed by the influx of immigrants.
The relocations have fueled fury among Democrats, who accuse Republican governors of using immigrants as political pawns, a sentiment echoed throughout the class action lawsuit.
A Texas sheriff’s deputy separately opened an investigation into the Martha’s Vineyard flights on Monday.
Alianza Americas, a network of immigrant advocacy groups, filed the class action lawsuit with three unidentified immigrants DeSantis relocated, alleging that the scheme also constituted an intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and fraud.
The lawsuit alleges that people, while staying in Texas migrant shelters, were told they would fly to Washington, DC or Boston and were promised resources upon landing. The migrants were then allegedly told that the flight would arrive in Martha’s Vineyard while the flight was in the air.
Also read:
· Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, sends 2 planes with immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard 2022 · Migrants transferred by DeSantis to Martha’s Vineyard stated that they were deceived and that their destination was Boston
Migrants who were sent to Massachusetts will be transferred to a military base