A sheriff whose jurisdiction includes San Antonio is investigating whether migrants were exploited in being sent to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses.
As local lawmakers call for a federal investigation, a Texas sheriff has announced his own local investigation into what led to 48 migrants being "lured" from San Antonio to Massachusetts, and if it was legal.
Sheriff Javier Salazar of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office announced his intentions to open an investigation into the case of the 48 migrants who reportedly left from San Antonio.
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"As we understand it 48 migrants were lured, I will use the word lured, under false pretenses into staying at a hotel for a couple of days, they were taken by airplane, at a point they were shuttled to an airplane, where they were flown to Florida and then eventually flown to Martha’s Vineyard, again under false pretenses," Salazar said Monday afternoon.
Salazar said it seems the group was recruited by another Venezuelan migrant who was paid what they described as a "bird dog fee."
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"I believe that they were preyed upon, someone came from out of state, preyed upon these people," Salazar said at a press conference.
He noted that the migrants had "every right to be where they were" before they were transported.
Two Cape Cod lawmakers are calling for an investigation by the Department of Justice after 50 migrants were dropped off on Martha's Vineyard last week without warning.
State Sen. Julian Cyr and Rep. Dylan Fernandes toured the base Monday morning and met with some of the migrants. They said the migrants used words like "tricked" and "kidnapping" when describing their journey to Massachusetts, and that one migrant told him he thought he was going to Washington, D.C.
Both of the lawmakers said they think Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis broke the law and called it a "political stunt" using "human beings as political pawns" — a sentiment that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren evoked Monday as well.
The migrants continue to receive services at Joint Base Cape Cod, which has been set up as a temporary shelter. The base is offering housing, meals, medical care and legal assistance, and the lawmakers said all of them have met with immigration attorneys and have been processed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
"This was a $600,000 political stunt at the expense of women, children and families seeking a better life," Senator Cyr said.
"This is a depraved thing to do. This is an evil thing to do. It's just completely unacceptable," Rep. Fernandes said.
Cyr and Fernandes said two of the migrants will be moving off the base as early as Monday to meet up with family in New York. Arrangements are still being made for the others. Officials are also in discussions with districts, including Bourne Public Schools, about enrolling the six children there.
"I think there are real legal implications here around human trafficking, around fraud at a bear minimum, around deprivation of liberty and kidnapping," Rep. Fernandes said.
