Are DeSantis and Abbott Breaking Human Trafficking Laws by Sending Migrants to Blue States?

People Staff
·3 min read
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Two bus-loads of migrants from Central and South America arrive outside Vice President Kamala Harris's residence at the Naval Observatory early in the morning in Washington, DC, USA, 15 September 2022. Texas Governor Greg Abbott bussed the migrants, which numbered between 75 and 100 people, from Eagle Pass, Texas to the VP's residence. Gov Abbott busses migrants to Vice President Harris's house in DC, Washington, USA - 15 Sep 2022
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JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Gov Abbott busses migrants to Vice President Harris's house in DC

Critics are slamming Republican Govs. Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott for transporting migrants from their home states to liberal areas in an effort to make a point about the Biden administration's border policies. But as criticism continues to swirl, some are suggesting the moves could flout human trafficking laws.

Earlier this week, Florida Gov. DeSantis announced he had sent two planes of migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. On Thursday, Texas Gov. Abbott claimed responsibility for a similar stunt in which two buses of migrants arrived at the US Naval Observatory — Vice President Kamala Harris' residence in Washington, D.C. and others arrived in Chicago.

RELATED: Ron DeSantis Takes Credit for Sending Planes of Migrants to Martha's Vineyard

Now, some are questioning the tactics used to get the migrants to leave, with NPR reporting that the migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard were told they were traveling to Boston and lured into boarding the plane with promises of expedited work papers.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said on Wednesday that state authorities were looking into whether there was any "criminal liability" involved in the transport of migrants to Chicago, deeming the transport a political "stunt."

Martha's Vineyard, MA - September 15: Students from the Marthas Vineyard Regional High School AP Spanish class help deliver food to St Andrews Episcopal Church. Two planes of migrants from Venezuela arrived suddenly Wednesday night on Martha's Vineyard. The students served as translators for the migrants.
Martha's Vineyard, MA - September 15: Students from the Marthas Vineyard Regional High School AP Spanish class help deliver food to St Andrews Episcopal Church. Two planes of migrants from Venezuela arrived suddenly Wednesday night on Martha's Vineyard. The students served as translators for the migrants.

Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Marthas Vineyard Migrants

"I'm not going to mince words here: The governor of Texas is forcing on New York and D.C. and Chicago and potentially other places a needlessly last minute and complex process that is a heartless display of politics over people," Pritzker said, the Chicago-Tribune reports. "Why not give reasonable notice? Why send these folks only to blue cities or blue states? Why isn't Abbott sending refugees to Mississippi or Oklahoma or Idaho? This is about politics for him."

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While Abbott's office told the Tribune the migrants had signed waivers indicating they were willingly boarding the buses, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she believed "that they have been misled and the only option for them that they've been presented to by the folks in Texas is a free bus ride, because they're not providing any other option."

A Venezuelan migrant is led onto a bus at St. Andrews Episcopal Church on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Marthaâs Vineyard. A group of migrants was flown to the island from Texas earlier this week, leaving them stranded. They are here being transferred to a Cape Cod military base.
A Venezuelan migrant is led onto a bus at St. Andrews Episcopal Church on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Marthaâs Vineyard. A group of migrants was flown to the island from Texas earlier this week, leaving them stranded. They are here being transferred to a Cape Cod military base.

Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty A Venezuelan migrant is led onto a bus at St. Andrews Episcopal Church on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Marthaâs Vineyard. A group of migrants was flown to the island from Texas earlier this week, leaving them stranded. They are here being transferred to a Cape Cod military base

Pritzer echoed those concerns, saying "We are still examining and interviewing the folks who have come to Illinois and listening to their stories about whether or not they willingly got on these buses, knew where they were going, were given the information," the Tribune reports.

DeSantis' office told CNN in a statement that he sent the migrants out of Florida because they could be better taken care of elsewhere.

"States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as 'sanctuary states' and support for the Biden Administration's open border policies," the statement read.