California AG Bonta calls out state of Florida after migrants flown to Sacramento, dropped off at church

More than a dozen migrants from South America who were recently flown on a chartered jet from New Mexico and dropped off in Sacramento were carrying documents indicating that their transportation was arranged by the state of Florida, California's attorney general said Sunday.

The documents appear to show that the flight was arranged through the Florida Division of Emergency Management and that it was part of the state's program to move migrants from Texas to other states, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said.

The contractor for the program is Vertol Systems Co., which coordinated similar flights that took dozens of Venezuelan asylum seekers from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts last year, he said.

In an interview with The Times on Sunday, Bonta didn't mince words in blaming Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who only last week became a Republican candidate for president, for the latest incident.

“This is Gov. DeSantis, this is his baby, this is his project, his fingerprints are all over it,” Bonta said. “The governor signed it, the Legislature approved to fund it in the budget, and they hired Vertol Systems Co., a vendor, to carry out the work.”

He added: “It's DeSantis being exactly who he is and advertising to the world that he is petty, little ... and full of political stunts that hurt, harm and abuse and exploit people to try and get cheap political points. It's wrong.”

DeSantis office did not return calls from The Times on Sunday. Calls to Vertol and the Division of Emergency Management also were not returned.

The 16 migrants from Venezuela and Colombia were initially transported by bus from El Paso to New Mexico, where they boarded the flight to Sacramento, officials said. They were dropped

off at the doorstep of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento on Friday.

Their arrival, for which no politician or organization has yet to publicly claim responsibility, adds fuel to a controversy over similar ploys by conservative politicians in Republican-led states.

They and their supporters have said the efforts are aimed at raising awareness of the influx of migrants over the southern border and bringing the issue to the doorsteps of authorities in states led by Democrats. Opponents describe the moves as cruel political

stunts that use immigrants as pawns and leave them many miles from family, resources and even the courthouses where they are often expected to appear to plead their cases for asylum.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement on Saturday that he and Bonta, also a Democrat, met on Saturday with more than 12 of the migrants.

Newsom added that his office and the California Department of Justice are working together “to investigate the circumstances around who paid for the group's travel and whether the individuals orchestrating this trip misled anyone with false promises or have violated any criminal laws, including kidnapping.”

Bonta confirmed that his

office is investigating the circumstances. He said his office would be “evaluating potential criminal or civil action against those who transported or arranged for the transport of these vulnerable immigrants.”

Bonta said Sunday the migrants sent to California — most of them are from Venenzuela — told officials that they were promised jobs and that someone would assist them in finding work. Instead, the group was dropped off at the Catholic diocese in Sacramento. When someone at the diocese opened the door, two men said they would return but instead drove off, leaving the group of migrants behind, Bonta said.

“They never intended to help them find a job but told

them that they would do that so they could get on the plane and sign their documents and be transported to Sacramento,” Bonta said.

The migrants are receiving legal aid services as some of them have immigration court dates in the coming days. Some of the court dates are as far as New York and Chicago.

Bonta spoke about one migrant he met. He said the man, who is from Venezuela, played a voicemail from his 9-year-old daughter, who told her father in Spanish that she is hungry and her mother is sick.

The man didn't come to the U.S. for handouts, Bonta said, recalling the conversation. He came for a job so he can provide for his family back home, he said.

The situation in Sacramento is playing out against a backdrop of intense national debate and responses to the influx of migrants who enter the U.S. across the Mexican border each year.

In September, Abbott bused about 100 migrants to Washington, D.C., where they were dropped off outside the Naval Observatory, the home of Vice President Kamala Harris.

That same month, DeSantis — who is now a top contender for the GOP presidential nomination — sent a group of migrants to Martha's Vineyard, a wealthy liberal haven off the coast of Massachusetts.

Also last year, eight Venezuelan migrants were flown from Texas to Sacramento.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg called for an investigation into the latest incident in a Saturday statement.

“Human trafficking is not only despicable; it's a felony. … Whoever is behind this must answer the following: Is there anything more cruel than using scared human beings to score cheap political points?” he said.

Steinberg's statement made clear that the city will continue to be a welcoming place for disadvantaged people like the 16 migrants who arrived there Friday.

“Sacramento represents the best of American values,” he said. “We always welcome `the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses,' and we always will.”