Hey, there! Log in / Register
Florida's elected human trafficker used deceit to get immigrants on that plane to Martha's Vineyard
By adamg on Thu, 09/15/2022 - 9:55am
NPR reports how Florida's governor paid to fly Venezuelan immigrants in Texas up to Martha's Vineyard:
The migrants said a woman they identified as "Perla" approached them outside the shelter and lured them into boarding the plane, saying they would be flown to Boston where they could get expedited work papers. She provided them with food. The migrants said Perla was still trying to recruit more passengers just hours before their flight.
This is not the first time Southern governors have pulled this sort of stunt.
https://t.co/ibfo0aE8W1 is the church that stepped up last night to put up those families; there is a PayPal link on their website and I gave last night — I'm sure they will make good use of the money
that said I hope there is a more structured situation soon— Alkali (@alkali19) September 15, 2022
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Unconscionable
And DeSantis didn’t even warn anyone in Massachusetts that they were coming, except for Fox News of course. What kind of monster must DeSantis be to think it is acceptable to treat human lives so cheaply, and that this scores him some kind of political point? The GOP is a party run by sociopaths.
It wasn't even cheap!
From what I've seen, it ended up costing something like $240k a person. Which is ridiculous on its face (who's profiting from this grift?), but also, how much more good could that money have done, either for the citizens of Florida if you're feeling xenophobic, or if given directly to needy immigrants if you're not?
Citation? From what I've
Citation? From what I've read, DeSantis has set aside $12 million to transport refugees up north. But I haven't read anywhere that the entire $12 million was spent on this one trip.
i love
that the best counter you can muster is a disagreement over whether all $12m was used in one sitting lol
don’t get me wrong, these are certainly the important facts to get right here /s
What else is there to counter
What else is there to counter? The incident "happened". Liberal voters will generally disapprove. Conservative voters will generally approve. I don't think there's any disagreement there.
that’s true
another fun fact: the sun rises in the east.
i count it a win that even Refugee knows DeSantis’ order is indefensible
The cost
That's almost $13,000 per immigrant, and it doesn't look like that's the total cost.
What kind of monster
De Santis is a shitstain of a human being, so of course he's the leading Republican candidate for President, after the ex-President shitstain.
Paging Carl Hiaasen
We need a final chapter for DeThsentence involving Skink and/or Twilly, an embarrassing autoerotic misadventure with a golf club, and at least one alligator.
YYYAAAAAAASSSS!
Perfect storyline - can we add the whale trying to mate with DeSantis?
"States like Massachusetts,
"States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals..." well, DeSantis' mouthpiece isn't wrong there. And yet, I bet DeSantis has no shame about calling himself a Christian in public with his bare face hanging out.
So, now they're pro-choice?
The reason MA, NY, and CA will facilitate better care for these people is because we choose to care about people.
Texas has all the necessary funds to treat these people as well as MA, NY, or CA will do.
This is what the GOP has devolved into thanks
to TFG: performative cruelty in lieu of actual policy. It's a sickness, a pathology. Any Trumpie that calls themselves a Christian is a damnable disgrace.
They are nearly winning
The GOP's goal is to inflict maximum pain on democrats and "liberal" votes.
They are basically only interested in culture wars and don't care about people being actually hurt, even their own supporters. (Notice how they'll attack police who enforce laws they don't like?)
I have philosophical disagreements with traditional conservative ideology but that's moot now that ideology is no longer a factor for those in the GOP leadership.
Sadly, the extremists are doing petty well in elections.
They're doing well in primaries
That may not help them in general elections, as women have awoken to just what they're trying to do.
GOP primaries
They aren't general elections.
The crazies in the corner nominate a crazy, but compare how many voted in the Democratic primary versus the Republican primary.
And?
Not knowing which primary you're talking about, I don't know how to read this. What primary, and what are the numbers? And what inferences are you drawing from it?
If the Dems manage to hold onto
the Senate and preserve a working majority in the House, it will be because TFG-endorsed whack-jobs won their R primaries and proved much easier to beat in the general. NH will be a useful test case: Hassan should have a much easier time edging out Retired General Bugnuts than his more moderate R primary rival.
If that happens, it will because the vast majority of Americans reject anti-democracy, election-denying MAGA extremism (and also Dobbs). The GOP has been scoring a series of own-goals this year by nominating psychopaths, CTE-sufferers and loons in races they could have won easily with mere garden-variety poors-hating, homophobic, transphobic, racist, xenophobic Republicans. Here's hoping they blow it entirely. They are almost universally unfit to govern.
Good news for them in the long run
Sure, this week is a time of confusion and probably quite a bit of fright, but in the end, the important thing is that they escaped the Third-World hellhole of corruption, brutality, and bleak future that they just escaped. There's also the matter of leaving wherever they were BEFORE they got to Florida, which is a different matter.
Well...
I mean, I get the joke, but MA isn't exactly the land of milk and honey for poor people either.
Right
The republican turd in the Corner Office does nothing for the poor people who already reside in Massachusetts. You think he cares about poor people being shipped to the Vineyard? The boob vacations in Utah.
and...
his favorite band is blink-182
I thought it was Nickleback?
I thought it was Nickleback?
Democratic Supermajority
…In the legislature, if they wanted to do more, they could
Sorry trumpie apologist/enabler
Get back to us when you can come up something original rather than the drivel spewed by, well, spewed by people of your ilk. Suggestion: tell the Truth.
Take a deep breath
I’m saying the democrats could (and should) be doing more, despite our useless governor, and that makes me a “Trumpie”?
How is that not “telling the truth”?
How?
This is a federal matter, not a state matter.
As for taking in refugees, you didn't notice what happened after Hurricane Maria? Warren and Baker working together? The services provided to schools and for elders who fled with their clothes?
Every time a sane policy comes up to a vote, Senator McConnell starts mumbling and threatening, Susan Collins Is Very Concerned, and then Munchkin and SinEnema begin heming and hawing and making stupid demands.
Please Read the Thread
I said our democratic super-majority legislature hasn't done as much as they can to support poor people in this state, even though they hold the purse strings. They, like the poster, like to blame it all on Charlie Baker (who deserves his share of scorn, for sure)
Specifically, I was thinking about our state's affordable housing crisis and our public transportation crisis.
Entry Level Jobs
Had they landed on the Cape and Islands three months ago there would have been lines to interview them.
Northern New England is having issues with not enough workers to support their retiree population and tourist venues. If they are eligible to work, they won't have to look far.
If he can do this...
Surely he could arrange "mercy" flights for women needing abortion care.
This will
Backfire on DeSantis in a huge way. I predict/hope.
He's probably the next president
If the election deniers gain control of polls in enough states.
America's democratic system wasn't perfect but it's sure a lot better than what comes next.
That would be proof
That God doesn't exist or that She hates the US.
Where was Diehl?
Why wasn't he out there on that runway preventing the plane from landing?
Answer me this, any of the one or two Diehl supporters that might be here.
His Iron Fist
It was busy "engaging in campaign fundraising activities".
Yeah. That's the story.
Disgusting
Disgusting that these folks were used as pawns. And find the acts to be pretty questionably legal.. I can't understand how busloads of similar people were dumped in DC and NYC.. directed by Abbott and the like.. and Abbott and now FatSantis are still walking free.
Comparison.. a woman kidnapped a girl and took her to a football game a few days ago, just north of Boston. That woman now is behind bars awaiting trial.
She didn't take the girl across state lines. She barely took her across town lines. And she's in jail.. for a one person kidnapping.
Yet reports state that over 500 people have been moved like this over the past month or so... and moved across state lines, and the people who orchestrated have yet to face any blowback from it. None.
I understand due process.. but if that woman can go from kidnapping on Monday and awaiting trial Thursday, why not the folks who orchestrated the move of HUNDREDS?
I just don't get it, except we have two legal systems here. One for the haves and one for the have nots.
Regardless, I'm proud to be apart of a state that very quickly banded together to help these people. Even if they came by surprise. This is the Spirit of Massachusetts.. which is The Spirit of America. . o ( The spirit we want to share with you!) O o .
Florida and Texas
Seeing as how no one has stopped them they'll keep sending bus/plane loads to northern cities. The shelter system in NYC and DC is already busting as a result of these illegal transports. And that's a fact makes those governors smile.
They are trying to prove a point (illegal immigration is bad) that no one is disputing. None of these Governors or reps have proposed any solution to immigration problems. They've all but said they think these people should just be shot and killed by law enforcement. (A non-citizen is no different than a rabid animal in their eyes.)
I will gladly dispute that point
What you call "illegal immigration" was the law of the land up until 1924 (with some exceptions for various forms of racism):
Show up and you can stay.
We have a tremendous labor shortage right now and should probably open the door to anyone who wants to come in. We just will need to use some of that labor to build some more houses and have NIMBYs stfu about having more houses.
But illegal immigration is bad? Yeah, hard, hard disagree.
Signed, a person who, like most posters here probably, descends from people who came here by what would now be defined as illegal immigration.
To be clear
The law changed in 1924.
Just to be clear
I am very much in favor of accepting more immigrants to America for all sorts of reasons. My grandparents came through Ellis island to escape persecution as Jews.
I'm not in favor of the current system by which legal (as in, formalized) immigration is extremely curtailed and a excessively long and complex process. It's so bad most immigrants need to find roundabout ways of getting the country. When that happens there's no accountability, no way of getting adequate funding for public services, etc.
But instead of addressing these problems in democratic method, the GOP basically stonewalls any and all discussion of revising immigration laws and instead doubles down on the "law enforcement" aspect. Basically, treat them like criminals and animals.
These are not illegal immigrants
They may have crossed the border without a visa, but have turned themselves in and applied for asylum. If they are given a case for that then per federal law/regulation they are allowed to stay in the US while their case is adjudicated.
Don't like it? Call on Congress to change the law.
Not liking the way the process works isn't a reason to treat the people using it this way.
The funny thing is that they way places like Massachusetts, NY & DC have responded it is obvious that Abbot & DeSantis could have just reached out and acted like a mature leader of a state to seek assistance from their counterparts in non-border states and they would have got it. Unfortunately that would not have scored them the political points with the base that was their real goal.
What is Our Responsibility to the Western Hemisphere?
For the past 100+ years, our policies have laid waste to various nations of this hemisphere, from sponsoring right-wing dictators and training their death squads, to fomenting and supporting or actually sending in the US Marines to overthrow popular leaders, to waging our disastrous drug war that only served to increase violence 100-fold, to creating gangs like MS-13 in our prisons and then deporting them without warning to Central America where they now cause unprecedented misery.
Then when the citizens of the hemisphere to which we helped lay waste try to escape this chaos to gain a safer life for their families, we call them "illegal."
We should be apologizing to these people and welcoming them, for starters.
Thank you!
Hear, hear, Pete X. Most folks are ignorant of the history of US policies toward "our" hemisphere. It's gruesome stuff.
yup
Thats what angers me the most when people spew nonsense about 'illegal immigration'
Take 20 seconds and GOOGLE, ignoring Fox News links and you'll quickly see that WE WERE the reason why they come here now.
People really will only believe what they want to believe.