An ambiguous tweet led some users to believe that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had ordered that undocumented immigrants be flown from Venezuela to Martha’s Vineyard.
By Snopes – Jordan Liles
Sep 15, 2022
On the day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had the state of Florida pay for two planes to transport undocumented immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, a popular tweet appeared to lead some users to believe that they had boarded the flights in Venezuela.
‘From Venezuela’
The tweet that led to the confusion came from Rick Wilson, a co-founder of the anti-Donald Trump group The Lincoln Project. Hours later, it had been retweeted and liked more than 50,000 times.
In the tweet, Wilson said, “A friend points out @RonDeSantisFL flew two planeloads of illegal migrants from Venezuela to Martha’s Vineyard without coordinating with DHS or INS… Does that make him a coyote? I mean, I’m no lawyer, but 8 USC 1342 ii…”
However, Wilson included an image in his tweet regarding criminal penalties for 8 U.S. Code § 1324, which was titled, “Bringing in and harboring certain aliens.” The text specifically described the violation of law for the act of transporting, moving, or attempting to do one or the other to an “alien” who is already within the U.S.
Wilson later remarked about his original tweet in a response to a user, saying that he meant the migrants were from Venezuela, not the flights.
As CBS News reported, the group of migrants were mostly of Venezuelan origin and were flown on two planes from Texas after they had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. During the flights, they made a stop in the Florida panhandle and later landed on Martha’s Vineyard.
Arrived ‘Unexpectedly’
The Vineyard Gazette, a newspaper serving Martha’s Vineyard, reported that the 48 or so migrants, some of whom were young children, had arrived “unexpectedly,” and that they were from either Venezuela or Colombia:
“We’re immigrants,” said Eliase, who said he was from Venezuela. “We came here because of the situation in our country, for the economy, for work, for lots of things. I came here walking. We went through 10 different countries until we got to Texas. There a refugee association put us in a plane and told us there would be work and housing here. I feel good, despite everything. We spent four days in Texas so it’s good to be here.”
Sen. Julian Cyr said the plane originated in San Antonio, Tex., and appeared to be part of a larger campaign to divert migrants from border states.
“Just like the reverse freedom rides in the 1960s, this endeavor is a cruel ruse that is manipulating families who are seeking a better life,” Senator Cyr said. “No one should be capitalizing on the difficult circumstances that these families are in and contorting that for the purposes of a “gotcha” moment.”
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Read More: Snopes – Migrants Were Flown to Martha’s Vineyard from Texas, Not Venezuela
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