Migrant Flights

DeSantis said Wednesday that California invited the migrants with its welcoming policies toward immigrants. He said those policies serve as a magnet for people looking for a better life and make it harder to crack down on illegal immigration.

Plaintiffs last week fired back after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration argued that a federal judge should dismiss a potential class-action lawsuit filed after Florida flew 49 migrants from Texas to Massachusetts in September.

The lawsuit contended that a section of the state budget used to pay for the September flights was unconstitutional.

Republicans say the program would help migrants by taking them to sanctuary cities. Democrats say it as a political stunt meant to serve the governor’s national political ambitions.

A circuit judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a South Florida state senator but offered advice on how the legal complaint can move forward. The suit challenged the use of state funds to transport migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

The case has focused, at least in part, on requests by an open-government group for phone or text logs that could provide information about communications by DeSantis Chief of Staff James Uthmeier.

The subpoenas sought to force testimony in a hearing Tuesday in the public-records lawsuit filed against the administration.

The Florida Center for Government Accountability claims the Florida Department of Transportation and a state contractor did not comply with public records requests.

When asked why they flights were postponed, DeSantis’ communications director, Taryn Fenske, noted that Florida has been busy dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

Vertol Systems Company sent an employee to the state capital to pick up a hard copy of a $950,000 check for organizing the flights after the state didn’t receive paperwork for a direct deposit to the company’s account.

The Treasury Department’s internal watchdog is investigating whether Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis improperly used federal pandemic aid to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.

The lawsuit said the DeSantis administration provided some records but was not “responsive” to requests made Sept. 20 and Sept. 21 under Florida’s public-records law.