Migrants who were 'gifted' a free trip across the country say the promises made to them were unfulfilled. They're now in need of asylum and help.
Immigration and border security politics are helping define Florida governor Ron DeSantis' campaign for president. At a Monday appearance in the border city of Eagle Pass, Texas, DeSantis pledged to deputize state and local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration policy. The Florida Republican even proposed authorizing deadly force to stop people from damaging border walls and barriers to get into the U.S.
Three weeks ago, his administration oversaw another transport of migrants from El Paso, Texas to Sacramento, California. Migrants speaking with Scripps News said recruiters offered them free hotel stays, jobs, assistance in finding immigration attorneys and a free trip to California. In the end, they say the promises that enticed them onto the plane were false. Richard is a 30-year-old Venezuelan father of four who says he now lives in fear. Scripps News is not showing his face or giving his last name to protect his identity, as he fears retaliation from the people who claimed that they were going to help him.
"And she offers me to go to California. That they are going to help me change my immigration appointment for the immigration process," Richard said. In June, 36 other migrants were flown to Sacramento ,on flights occurring June 2 and June 5. The California attorney general said those he spoke with told him they were promised work that never materialized. "They told me they'd call around 5 p.m. to take us to the hotel," he added.
Florida says it uses three contractors — ARS Global Emergency Management, Gardaworld Federal Services and Vertol Systems in what it calls its"unauthorized alien transport program," for which lawmakers have so far authorized $12 million. ARS Global, which is headquartered north of Houston, did acknowledge it has a contract with Florida and says it carries out services with"compassion and expediency.
The federal government says the border is not open and illegal crossings have decreased since it enacted stricter immigration measures after May 12. DeSantis claims the migrants consented to the trips and knowingly signed these waivers. Richard tells a different story. "And you can tell they were other than Americans," Deming, New Mexico airport manager Robert Benavidez said."So I filled up the airplane and they went in. The airplane took off and left. And I asked the administrative gal where they were going. They said, Sacramento."
He adds Miranda also discouraged him from leaving even when he insisted. He then got a text message which deepened his fears. Richard says he begged to be returned to El Paso. A driver hired to help transport Richard's group agreed to take Richard and his family back. "When I saw that things didn't add up, when I saw those things, when I saw the cash, when I saw that in front of me, they never spoke in Spanish, never, always in English, with codes.
A Boston-based civil rights group that represents people from the first migrant trip to Massachusetts says the recruiting tactics used were similar.
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