California and Texas county threaten criminal charges over DeSantis migrant flights
PETER WEBER
2:17 AM
Florida claimed responsibility Tuesday for two charter flights that carried 36 migrants from Texas to a Catholic church in Sacramento, California, on Friday and Monday. Alecia Collins, a spokeswoman for Florida's Division of Emergency Management, insisted the flights were "voluntary," but California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Attorney General Rob Bonta said some of the migrants were misled and flown to California under false pretenses. They said prosecutors are considering criminal charges.
The flights from Texas and New Mexico were financed through a $12 million migrant relocation fund Florida's Republican-dominated Legislature approved for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). DeSantis took credit for earlier charter flights of 49 migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, but he has not yet commented on the Sacramento flights.
The sheriff of Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, said Monday that his office had completed its investigation of the Martha's Vineyard flight and filed unlawful restraint charges against unidentified officials. In cases involving children, those would be felony charges. Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said Tuesday that determining whether there is enough evidence to pursue the charges in court could be a "lengthy and labor-intensive" process but his office "will be thorough" and "follow the law."
https://theweek.com/ron-desantis/1024097/california-and-texas-county-threaten-criminal-charges-over-desantis-migrant
