EDGARTOWN, Massachusetts (AP) — The chief executive of Martha’s Vineyard Community Services was wrapping up work when she looked outside to see 48 strangers in her office with suitcases, backpacks and red folders containing brochures for her organization.
Venezuelan migrants who were flown to the wealthy Massachusetts island from San Antonio on Wednesday by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said they were told they would go to Boston.
DeSantis took from the playbook of fellow Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, surprising Democratic strongholds with large influxes of immigrants and providing little or no information.
“They were told they were going to have a job and they were going to have housing,” said Elizabeth Folcarelli, who runs Martha’s Vineyard Community Services and described the housing drive as a “huge challenge.”
Julio Henriquez, a lawyer who met with some of the migrants, said they “had no idea where they were going or where they were”.
Two flights to Martha’s Vineyard stopped in the Florida Panhandle, Henriquez said. While on board, the migrants received pamphlets and maps of Massachusetts.
An unsigned letter told migrants to notify US Citizenship and Immigration Services of address changes, although US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is actually responsible for tracking migrants, Henriquez said. “That’s terrible advice,” he said.
Many immigrants have appointments with ICE on Monday in San Antonio. Others were ordered to report to immigration authorities within two weeks to three months in cities including Philadelphia and Washington.
U.S. officials told immigration lawyers that the required checks would be delayed, Henriquez said. Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
In San Antonio, a Latina woman approached immigrants at a city-run shelter and put them up at a nearby La Quinta Inn, where she visited daily with food and gift cards, Henriquez said. She promised work and three months of accommodation in Washington, New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
The woman, who introduced herself to the immigrants as Perla, promised jobs, housing and support for their immigration cases, said Oren Sellstrom of the civil rights attorney, who offered free consultations.
The city of San Antonio was not aware of the flights, said Maria Villagomez, deputy city manager.
Pedro Luis Torrelaba, 36, said he was promised work, food and shelter. He thought he was going to New York.
“I’m not a victim,” he said Friday, thanking the people of Martha’s Vineyard for their hospitality. “I just feel cheated because they told a lie and it didn’t do anything.”
The migrants were voluntarily relocated Friday to a military base on nearby Cape Cod. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker said he would activate up to 125 National Guard members to assist the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
DeSantis said Friday that most immigrants intended to come to Florida and that the trip to Martha’s Vineyard was voluntary. He did not address the migrants’ claims that they had been told they would go elsewhere.
Florida’s governor defended taking immigrants to Texas and vowed to continue transporting them to immigrant-friendly “sanctuary” jurisdictions.
“Our view is you have to deal with it at the source, and if they intend to come to Florida or a lot of them intend to come to Florida, that’s our best way to make sure they end up in a holy place,” he said.
Texas has bused about 8,000 immigrants to Washington since April, including more than 100 on Thursday to the home of Vice President Kamala Harris. It also has about 2,200 buses to New York and 300 to Chicago.
Arizona has bussed more than 1,800 migrants to Washington since May, but has kept officials informed of the plans. The city of El Paso, Texas, has sent at least 1,135 migrants on 28 buses to New York since Aug. 23 and, like Arizona, is sharing passenger lists and other information.
Last week, a 2-year-old arriving in New York from Texas was hospitalized for dehydration, and a pregnant woman on the same bus was in severe pain, according to lawyers and city officials.
Volunteer groups often wait hours for buses coming from Texas in a designated space at the Manhattan Port Authority Bus Terminal. They rely on counselors for help.
“It’s a problem because we don’t know when the buses are coming, how many buses are coming, if anyone on these buses has medical conditions that they’re going to need help with, if they need a wheelchair,” Manuel said. Castro, commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “We at least want to know that so we can best help people when they arrive.”
A contractor Texas hired to bus the immigrants signed an agreement barring them from talking to New York officials, Castro said.
Some fathers have arrived in New York while their spouses and children were sent to Washington, said Ilze Thielmann, a volunteer director with TLC NYC, a group working to reunite them.
Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said his administration has reached out to Texas but has not heard back. The first immigrants arrived at Chicago’s Union Station from Texas on August 31.
Abbott’s office dismissed complaints of a lack of coordination and keeping cities guessing about the governor’s next moves as he tries to drum up opposition to President Joe Biden’s border policies.
“Instead of complaining about fulfilling their sanctuary city promises, these Democratic hypocrites should be calling on President Biden to do his job and secure the border — something the president continues to fail to do,” the spokeswoman said Thursday. Renae Eze.
Arizona has been working since May through the Regional Center for Border Health, which runs clinics for low-income patients in Yuma. Several days a week, a bus heads east from a clinical office in suburban Somerton.
Amanda Aguirre, CEO of the health care provider, said she told Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s staff that she would not participate without close coordination. Arizona established information-sharing protocols early on with Carece, a nonprofit group that helps immigrants in Washington, Aguirre said.
“I’m never going to let people throw themselves on the street, because that’s what I’m trying to prevent here in Yuma, by throwing themselves on the street,” Aguirre said.
Some immigrants seem unaffected by the chaos.
Cleiver Rodriguez of Venezuela said he appreciated the free ride from Texas to New York, where he came looking for work.
“I don’t have any thoughts because at least they helped me get here,” Rodriguez, 24, said as he left a shelter.
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Salomon reported from Miami and Torrens from New York. Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; Elliot Spagat in Somerton, Arizona; Jake Bleiberg in Dallas; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
