Massachusetts lawmakers urge Buttigieg to investigate DeSantis migrant flights
A group of Democratic lawmakers from Massachusetts sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday urging him to investigate whether charter flights for migrants organized by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated department rules.
Florida’s Republican governor used state dollars to fly nearly 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard earlier this month. Several of the migrants are now suing DeSantis, claiming they were lured onto the charter flights under false pretenses, such as promises of employment, housing and educational opportunities.
DeSantis has denied that any of the migrants were misled.
Sen. Ed Markey, alongside Reps. Bill Keating, Lori Trahan, Stephen Lynch, Jake Auchincloss and Seth Moulton, say that a “Charter-Broker Rule” at the Transportation Department prohibits charter organizers from misrepresenting “the time of departure or arrival, points served, route to be flown, stops to be made, or total trip-time from point of departure to destination.”
The letter was first reported by Politico.
“The Department should use all tools within its authority — including the Charter-Broker Rule — to ensure that migrants are not transported under false pretenses as part of a competition among wannabe Trump acolytes to claim the mantle of cruelest governor in the United States,” the letter reads. “Charter brokers and air carriers should not assist states like Florida in relocating migrants with false promises about their ultimate destination.”
It is unclear whether DeSantis or the Florida government would be considered charter brokers. But the letter points out that Vertol Systems Company Inc. appears to have signed a $1.6 million contract with the DeSantis administration to conduct the flights, which were then operated by Ultimate Jet Charters.
A transportation official said the department would respond to the letter directly, but would not comment on the matter in public.
DeSantis’ office and Vertol Systems did not respond to requests for comment.
This story was originally published September 28, 2022 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Massachusetts lawmakers urge Buttigieg to investigate DeSantis migrant flights."
