The tension between Florida and California has increased in recent hours after the arrival of a second private plane loaded with undocumented immigrants that the Florida authorities allegedly could have sent as a measure of protest against the current immigration policy of President Joe Biden. California Governor Gavin Newsom sent a defiant message to his Florida counterpart, Republican Ron DeSantis, via Twitter. “This is not Martha’s Vineyard. Kidnapping charges?” he wrote.
Newsom is referring to a plane that the Florida authorities chartered in December last year with undocumented immigrants on board to one of the most exclusive areas of Massachusetts -the Kennedys have vacationed there for years-, a way of putting pressure on states with governments progressives to put an end to the constant crossings of Central and South Americans on the border with Mexico. The situation recorded in Sacramento last Friday and again on Monday seems a carbon copy of that strategy.
Hence, from California they have not hesitated to accuse Ron DeSantis of being behind the shipment of a plane on Friday with 16 Venezuelan and Colombian immigrants who were initially transferred from Texas to New Mexico and later sent to a Christian church in Sacramento, “where were abandoned without any prior notice,” Newsom said in a statement.
On Monday, another plane with 20 immigrants also arrived in the capital of the ‘golden state’. Both groups were flown by the same operator and were carrying documents indicating that Florida was involved in the operation. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading the investigation to determine what action to take. On the table is a “potential criminal or civil action” against Florida.
According to Immigration officials, the first group had already been processed in Texas and were waiting to appear in court to deal with their asylum cases. In neither case were they scheduled to be flown to California nor is it clear why they were first shipped to New Mexico before being flown to Sacramento. From the office of the governor of that state, Lujan Grisham, they did not know how to give a concrete explanation.
Before DeSantis did, the governors of Texas and Arizona had sent thousands of immigrants on buses bound for New York, Chicago and Washington, cities considered sanctuaries for the undocumented. The tactic was branded as inhumane and humiliating by groups defending human rights.
The new incident comes days after DeSantis made his candidacy for the White House official, protected precisely by his heavy-handed policy against “illegals.” Last month he gave the green light to a law that requires companies with more than 25 workers to verify the legal status of their employees and increases penalties for human trafficking. In addition, it prohibits local governments from issuing identity cards to individuals without proper papers, instilling a sense of persecution in this part of the country.
Quite the opposite of California. Newsom has insisted that the most diverse state in the country will continue to welcome foreigners and treat them humanely, understanding that they generate wealth and that they represent a fundamental part of the future of the region. The question now is how far he will take the political battle with DeSantis. In front of Trump his hand did not shake when he was president of the United States.
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