Immigration

South Florida State Senator Sues Gov. DeSantis Over Migrant Relocation

The lawsuit claims DeSantis used language in a bipartisan budget allocating $12 million to establish a program for "transport of unauthorized aliens from this state consistent with federal law"

NBC Universal, Inc.

One member of the Florida Senate from South Florida has filed a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the relocation of migrants, claiming it violated state law since the migrants were not being relocated from Florida.

Jason Pizzo, a Democrat from District 38 which includes Miami Beach, filed the suit as a private citizen against DeSantis, Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis and Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue.

The lawsuit claims DeSantis used language in a bipartisan budget allocating $12 million to establish a program for "transport of unauthorized aliens from this state consistent with federal law.”

Pizzo said the migrants who were transported to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts last week were seeking asylum and have legal status in the United States. He added that the migrants were taken from Texas, which violated the language of the budget.

Pizzo voted for the budget with the $12 million allocation in the last legislative session.

DeSantis used a contractor to help identify a group of Venezuelan migrants who were flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.

“We want to voluntarily transport away from Florida so that we don’t have to bear the cost, and there’s a vendor who is doing that for us,” the governor said Thursday afternoon, adding the vendor is profiling people who may be interested in coming to Florida.

The revelation comes days after a lawsuit was filed against the governor claiming the migrants were lured with incentives like McDonald's gift certificates and free hotel stays, and were promised jobs, housing and educational opportunities if they boarded planes, which they were told were going to Boston or Washington, D.C.

DeSantis said all migrants went voluntarily and were provided with information on assistance they could receive in the area, which he called "the most posh sanctuary jurisdiction maybe in the world."

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