What we know about DeSantis flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard

Whether President Joe Biden is doing enough to limit illegal immigration is a key issue raised by Republicans this midterm election cycle.

To draw attention to the topic, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew around 50 immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on Sept. 14 — surprising local officials and making them scramble to accommodate the group. 

DeSantis isn't the first Republican governor to send newly arriving migrants out of his state:

• Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has bused more than 7,000 immigrants to Democratic-led cities like New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. On Sept. 15, Abbott sent two buses of immigrants to Vice President Kamala Harris' residence in the nation's capital; and

• Arizona's Gov. Doug Ducey, also a Republican, has bused around 1,800 migrants to Washington D.C. 

The act has become a political move in an election year, rather than an effective immigration control strategy, said Muzaffar Chishti, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. 

"Sending buses to the doorstep of the vice president’s home. I mean, what sense does that make unless you're making a political point," Chishti said. "The underlying political motivation here can not be understated."

Underscoring the political nature of the strategy, DeSantis has featured it in his campaign ads.

His re-election campaign posted an ad on Facebook, asking, "Where should Biden's buses of illegal immigrants be sent? Delaware? D.C.? California? New York?" 

Here's what we know about the group of immigrants that arrived in Martha's Vineyard and other issues related to the transportation of immigrants by Republican governors.

The immigrants who arrived in Martha's Vineyard are mostly from Venezuela and were likely released by Customs and Border Protection after initial screening for asylum eligibility, according to news reports and experts. The migrants initially were in San Antonio, Texas.

Typically, when Border Patrol agents encounter immigrants at the southwest border, they question them and decide whether they have a reasonable fear of returning to their home country. If they do, they can seek asylum in the U.S. People allowed to apply for asylum are detained or released while they await their court proceedings. 

U.S. diplomatic relations with Venezuela are tense, and there are no direct flights between the two countries. That complicates the return of Venezuelan nationals to their native country after they encounter Border Patrol at the southern border.

This is why Border Patrol does not usually expel Venezuelan migrants through a public health policy that's in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, said David Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. Title 42 has been used to deny entry to some immigrants at the border.

When immigrants are released at the border, they don’t enter state custody, Chishti said. Instead, they often receive shelter from nonprofit organizations that help them find housing while they await their immigration case hearing. Often, immigrants will travel to other states and cities within the U.S. where they have friends or family. 

The cost of transportation or travel is the immigrant's responsibility, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit that is supportive of immigration. That's why free bus or plane rides offered by state governments can be enticing.

In June 2022, the Florida Legislature allocated $12 million to the Florida Department of Transportation for a "program to facilitate the transport" of immigrants in the country illegally. However, until the flights to Martha’s Vineyard, DeSantis had not used the program, saying that a similar program in Texas had taken pressure off of Florida.

The governor's office told PolitiFact that Florida's program seeks to identify immigrants who are illegally in the U.S. and "connect them with voluntary opportunities to reach sanctuary destinations and high-wealth areas" that support Biden’s policies.

It is against federal law to transport or attempt to transport immigrants "knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact" that they are in the country illegally.

But experts have told PolitiFact that elected officials likely aren't breaking immigration law when they bus or fly immigrants who have been screened and released by CBP — as long as the immigrants are traveling willingly. 

Some immigrants in Martha’s Vineyard told NPR that a woman approached them outside a shelter in San Antonio and talked to them about boarding a plane to Boston "where they could get expedited work papers."

Immigrants seeking asylum aren’t eligible to apply for work permits under immigration law until 150 days after they apply for asylum. 

Bier from the Cato Institute said that although transporting the immigrants is not illegal, using deception is, and should be investigated in this case. California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom urged the Justice Department on Sept. 15 to investigate.