DeSantis’ week: Stoking outrage on Martha’s Vineyard, standing ovation in Wisconsin, breaking fundraising records

It’s Monday, Sept. 19, and Florida’s Republican governor has had some kind of week. Gov. Ron DeSantis thrust immigration policy into the national spotlight last week when he had about 50 migrants from Texas transported to Martha’s Vineyard to underscore the malfunction around the U.S. immigration and border control policies.

(Because this is also about messaging for a potential presidential election, the governor’s office just also happened to supply some timely and exclusive footage to Fox News about the event.)

Relocation or day trip? A day later, DeSantis explained that the flights were part of the $12 million relocation program authorized by legislators this year, intended to prevent migrants that have illegally crossed the U.S. border from settling in Florida by sending them to “sanctuary” cities. The term loosely applies to governments that have restrictions on cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. State records show the state paid a Destin aviation company $615,000 for the charter flights.

There may be a few problems: Under international humanitarian law, migrants can claim asylum in a border state. The Venezuelan migrants stranded on Martha’s Vineyard told advocates they were fleeing from the regime of Nicolás Maduros, the left-wing, populist dictator indicted by the United States in connection with narco-terrorism and corruption. His security forces are responsible for executions, disappearances, jailing opponents, prosecuting civilians — including torturing detainees and cracking down on protesters.

Asylum in Florida: Many of the migrants said they are headed to Florida cities, including Miami where they have friends or family. “The irony is that Gov.[Ron] DeSantis paid for them to be brought here,” said Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

The migrants told reporters they were repeatedly lied to and lured with the prospect of finding jobs and housing to get on the plane. They also realized they had become pawns in a political chess match.

Misled and moved: By Friday, the group was transferred to the Joint Base Cape Cod, a Massachusetts National Guard facility, where they would have easier access to immigration attorneys. But lawyers said the transfer away from Florida will also create hurdles for people to find their way to the state and result in delays in asylum applications.

The tactic quickly earned the scorn from the left, which called the flights an inhumane political stunt and the latest in the governor’s “war against immigrants.” Late-night TV hosts ridiculed DeSantis.

Advocates warn others: But in addition to backlash, the transfers have provoked a response from immigrant advocates. By Sunday, volunteers had arrived in Eagle Pass, a tiny Texas town, located 2.5 hours of southwest of San Antonio that has become a common point of entry for asylum seekers from Central and South America. Advocates have now begun warning migrants of the pitfalls of trusting offers like the one that ended with 50 Venezuelans ending up on a Massachusetts island that was unprepared for them.

Trump’s idea: The idea of transporting migrants from Texas border towns to blue state cities first emerged under former-President Donald Trump, whose immigration adviser Stephen Miller originally proposed the flights. But concerns within Immigration and Customs Enforcement led them to abandon the idea.

Since April, however, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has sent about 8,500 people north to D.C., New York City and Chicago, all cities run by Democratic mayors and all which have designated themselves sanctuary jurisdictions. Abbott this month bused migrants to the home of Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C.

Mixed Miami reax: In Miami, where DeSantis weeks earlier promised the Cuban and Venezuelan communities that he would not send refugees out of the state, the reaction was mixed. Immigration activists blasted the flights as “a new low,” while others applauded the effort to slow illegal migration.

Levine Cava criticizes: Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, a Democrat, posted a statement on Twitter, telling the governor he should be celebrating immigrants and “not using them to score political points.” Miami-Dade County has the largest Venezuelan population in the United States.

Suarez scolds both parties: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez accused both Democrats and Republicans of using immigrants to score political points, accusing both parties of transferring migrants across the country.

DeSantis told donors: DeSantis gave donors a heads-up on the plan last week in a 51 minute speech in Orlando, according to the Washington Post. The governor remarks “were full of grievance and culture war pugilism, casting the nation’s political future as a battle against a conspiracy by leftists to impose their ideology and turn dissenters into second class citizens,’’ the report said.

Dems pile on: To DeSantis’ opponents, however, the controversy presented a political opportunity.

“When you are this inhumane, in how you treat human beings, you’re not qualified to be governor of anything,” Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist said during a news conference last week. “And it’s just, it’s amazing to me what he’s willing to do for sheer political gain.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking the Department of Justice to investigate the flights, and whether the migrants who boarded the planes were tricked into doing so.

A White House spokesperson accused DeSantis of deploying “smuggler tactics” to deceive asylum seekers. And President Biden called the tactics reckless. “Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props,” he said, imploring Republicans to start negotiating over a broad federal immigration bill that he says would fix the country’s problems with immigration.

Captured American: Osman Khan, a 24 year-old U.S. Citizen and graduate of the University of Central Florida, went to visit the family of his girlfriend in Venezuela early this year and has been detained by the government of Nicolás Maduro ever since. His family says he has been waterboarded and electrocuted, starved for a five-day period, forced to stand for hours and strapped down against his will while in custody.

Cubans keep coming: Meanwhile, the governor doesn’t talk about the influx of Cuban migrant landings and offshore interceptions off Florida shores that have reached an eight-year high in Florida as economic and political conditions in the island nation continue to deteriorate.

Since Oct. 1, the Coast Guard stopped 5,689 people from Cuba at sea attempting to reach the United States. Last Tuesday, a group of 12 men and two women from Cuba arrived on a vessel in the Upper Keys Village of Islamorada. A week ago, 78 Cuban migrants made landfall in five separate landings, according to the Border Patrol. And, last Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard said its cutter, Paul Clark, returned home to Cuba 99 people who were stopped at sea in eight interdictions off the archipelago since Tuesday.

Shattering fundraising records: DeSantis’ political operation reported raising $177.4 million through Sept. 9, breaking the gubernatorial fundraising record without adjusting for inflation, a new OpenSecrets analysis of state campaign finance filings found. His reelection campaign has raised over $31.4 million since January 2021, and Friends of Ron DeSantis, his political committee that is not subject to contribution limits, raked in $146 million since January 2019.

The crowds love him: DeSantis spent the weekend continuing his national fundraising tour, stopping in Wisconsin and Kansas to throw some love toward two Republican candidates for governor. In Wisconsin, he won a standing ovation promising that if that state elected Tim Michels, it could be just like Florida on the issue of election integrity and tighten voting rules enact restrictions. (The governor also attended the Green Bay Packers’ home opener against the Chicago Bears.)

Earlier in the day, DeSantis rallied with Kansas Republican gubernatorial candidate Derek Schmidt who is challenging Democratic incumbent Gov. Laura Kelly.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Cushy commish retirement: Miami-Dade quietly budgeted $475,000 next year for a new ‘county ambassador’ program that would let the sitting board chair hire an unlimited number of former commissioners as paid representatives of the county, with annual earnings of $25,000 a year. The program, first reported by Miami Herald last week, would cost taxpayers $8 million over 15 years.

Biden up, but under water: Forty-five percent of Americans approve of Biden’s performance, a new poll shows, following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and falling gas prices.

Crist gets LBGTQ+ endorsement: A host of Florida LGBTQ organizations came together in gay-friendly Wilton Manors last week to endorse and promote gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist in his race against DeSantis, calling Florida’s governor a “danger” to queer communities. Speakers said they fear DeSantis has created a dangerous environment for queer people by politicizing healthcare for trans people and signing the state’s Parental Rights bill, which critics have called “don’t say gay.”

Feds target COVID-related fraud: After losing billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds due to phony claims, the U.S. government has started deploying investigative teams in South Florida, California and Maryland to zero in on criminal organizations that are suspected of stealing from public programs offering small business loans and unemployment insurance. The federal strike-force teams were picked in these states not only because they have experienced significant relief fraud during the pandemic, but they also boast the resources to help combat the escalating problem across the country, federal authorities said in an announcement Wednesday.

Information on misinformation: Republicans say the press ignores misinformation coming from Democrats, allowing the left to own the issue as a political tool in campaigns. For example, a new poll by Republican consulting firm WPA Intelligence that found that 45% of Democrats believe the 2016 election “was stolen” from Hillary Clinton by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Broward superintendent under fire: Florida Board of Education Chair Tom Grady, a DeSantis appointee, asked at a board meeting last week whether the board could suspend Vickie Cartwright, Broward County Public Schools superintendent. In August, DeSantis suspended four of the nine School Board members in Broward, a Democratic stronghold.

Thank you for reading. Miami Herald Capitol Bureau Chief Mary Ellen Klas curates the Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State newsletter. We appreciate our readers and if you have any ideas or suggestions, please drop me a note at meklas@miamiherald.com.

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