Last month, a group of nearly 50 migrants, most from Venezuela, arrived by plane from San Antonio, Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.
Many called it a political stunt set up by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as part of his anti-immigration campaign. His government had chartered the flight with some of the $12 million that Florida’s legislature had set aside to remove people who came to Florida without immigration papers.
The scheme was a throwback to the 1960s, when segregationists put African- Americans on a bus headed to Hyannis with false promises of jobs and housing.
Since then, the migrants had been relocated from Martha's Vineyard to temporary housing on Joint Base in Cape Cod and they received support and services from community groups. Immigration lawyers worked with them pro bono for legal services, and together they filed a federal class action lawsuit and criminal investigation into DeSantis’ actions for transporting the migrants under false pretenses. Some attorneys called the situation “human trafficking” and “kidnapping.”
Gov. Charlie Baker's office said that the remaining migrants would be transferred out of Joint Base Cape Cod by this weekend, with the help of state and local organizations.
This week on Basic Black, we discuss the impact of human lives being used as political pawns. Host Callie Crossley will be joined by Mirian Albert, staff attorney for Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston; Sarah Betancourt, reporter for GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting; and Sarang Sekhavat, political director for Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Coalition.
Watch the latest episode of Basic Black tonight at 7:30 p.m. on GBH 2 or live at the stream below. You can also watch on the GBH News YouTube channel. Subscribe to get notifications for future premiere episodes.
