Florida governor defends migrant flights as political tensions over border deepens

Record ID: 1689286

  • Title: Florida governor defends migrant flights as political tensions over border deepens
  • Date: 16th September 2022
  • Summary: EL PASO, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 16, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WAITING NEXT TO THE BUS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENEZUELAN MIGRANT, FRANCISCO JAVIER MORA, SAYING: "We finally made it. We spent so much time crossing Mexico, one month crossing Mexico. We finally made it." VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS BOARDING BUS EL PASO'S CITY MANAGER MARIO D'AGOSTINO TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) EL PASO'S CITY MANAGER, MARIO D'AGOSTINO, SAYING: "So we know, we know what we are getting. When we see that 50 percent of that group of people is unsponsored we know it puts some more of a burden on us. That's why we are doing these operations, hiring charter buses because there is not enough plane seats out of our community. There is not enough bus seats. I'm going to give an example, when you know, Greyhound seats, there is no same-day ticket. The best I can do is get a seat for tomorrow. So that automatically talks about a housing situation, and that's what we are trying to do, we are trying to connect those. That's why we have a charter on deck. We scheduled, I believe we have eight today, Chief Rodriguez will correct that, we have eight charters scheduled for today. They are full. We have enough room for more charters." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) EL PASO'S CITY MANAGER, MARIO D'AGOSTINO, SAYING: "Not just charters, but just this quarter, so that's from July 1st, the city of El Paso has invested a million dollars into this. This is funding that we seek reimbursement for, through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) emergency food and shelter grants, so we will be seeking reimbursement. That includes the charters. Leave us 41 charters today and so those charters will continue this, in order to assist those NGOs and the housing, and the capabilities within our community. When we compare to what you talked about, the governor of Florida or the governor here of Texas, I don't know their operation, I talk about the city of El Paso's operation. The city of El Paso's operations making sure we connect those individuals, these migrants, to where they want to go. That's the most important thing to us. VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WAITING TO GET REGISTERED VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS GETTING REGISTERED SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 16, 2022) (REUTERS) (MUTE) AERIAL VIEW OF WELCOME CENTER SAN ANTONIO POLICE VEHICLE DRIVING PAST AMERICAN FLAG MIGRANTS CROSSING STREET MIGRANTS RESTING ON STREET TABLE MIGRANTS NEXT TO STREET TABLE MIGRANTS RESTING NEXT TO THE WELCOME CENTER MIGRANTS WALKING NEXT TO THE WELCOME CENTER MIGRANT ENTERING WELCOME CENTER
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2022 00:05
  • Keywords: Desantis El Paso Texas US Venezuelan asylum migrants
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA003598416092022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS WHITE FLASHES
    Florida's Republican governor on Friday (September 16) defended his decision to fly dozens of migrants to the wealthy vacation island of Martha's Vineyard from Texas, as a political dispute over border security deepened in the run-up to U.S. elections in November.
    DeSantis claimed credit for a pair of chartered flights on Wednesday (September 14) that carried around 50 migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, as part of a broader Republican effort to shift responsibility for border crossers to Democratic leaders.
    At a news conference in Daytona Beach, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blamed Democratic President Joe Biden for what he portrayed as a failure to stop migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, as a record 1.8 million have been arrested this fiscal year.
    DeSantis said the Florida Legislature set aside $12 million to transport migrants out of the state and that his government would likely use the funds "to protect Florida."
    The flights to Martha's Vineyard follow a busing effort by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, another Republican, that has sent more than 10,000 migrants to the Democrat-controlled cities of Washington, New York, and Chicago since April. The Republican governor of Arizona also has sent more than 1,800 migrants to Washington.
    Unlike those major cities, the island south of Boston is home to around 20,000 year-round residents and is known as a vacation spot for affluent liberals like former Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
    On Friday morning in Martha's Vineyard, the migrants, a group of mostly Venezuelans including half a dozen children, boarded buses en route to a ferry to Cape Cod in transportation organized by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican. He said they would be housed temporarily at a Cape Cod military base.
    Meanwhile, U.S. border officials in El Paso, Texas, say they have been forced to release hundreds of migrants on city streets near shelters and bus stations to ease overcrowding at their facilities.
    Many of the Venezuelans arriving have no family members or sponsors, further straining charity and government agencies that assist them, said Mario D'Agostino, El Paso's deputy city manager.
    The Democrat-controlled city has contracted charter buses to carry migrants north to New York City, an effort that comes after the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona drew national attention by busing thousands of migrants to Democrat-led northern cities.
    Many migrants who cross into the United States via the Southwest border are immediately expelled to Mexico or other countries under a COVID-19 pandemic policy. But some nationalities, including Venezuelans, cannot be expelled because Mexico will not accept them and many look to apply for U.S. asylum.
    The White House has decried the Republican governors' efforts, saying migrants were being used in a political stunt.
    (Production: Jose Luis Gonzalez, Jordan Vonderhaar, Eva Weininger, Bernat Parera)
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