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Tipsheet

Is Ron DeSantis Guilty of 'Human Trafficking' for Sending Illegal Immigrants to Martha's Vineyard?

Mia Cathell
Mia Cathell  |  September 19, 2022 4:30 PM
Townhall Media

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has brought President Joe Biden's border crisis to the Obamas and other coastal elites whose midday mimosas were interrupted Wednesday by two planes full of illegal immigrants shipped straight to Martha's Vineyard. A flurry of blue checkmarks on Twitter claimed that DeSantis is "human smuggling" and even "human trafficking" the 50 illegal migrants via a pair of all-expenses-paid trips to the liberal paradise.

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So did the DeSantis administration actually "smuggle" and/or "traffic" dozens of illegal aliens to the affluent Massachusetts island south of Cape Cod? Was this all an "illegal," coordinated "human smuggling" operation?

CLAIM: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at Friday's briefing compared the actions of DeSantis and Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), who twice-trolled Vice President Kamala Harris with busloads of migrants outside her home in Washington, D.C., to that of human smugglers. "These are the kinds of tactics we see from smugglers in places like Mexico and Guatemala. And for what? A photo op," Jean-Pierre said from the podium.

Massachusetts state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, a Democrat who represents Martha's Vineyard, tweeted Sunday that he's requesting that the U.S. Department of Justice open an investigation "to hold DeSantis...accountable for these inhumane acts," claiming that "[n]ot only is it morally criminal, there are legal implications around fraud, kidnapping, deprivation of liberty, and human trafficking." Fernandes stated he had spoken with Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachel Rollins and is "grateful to hear she is pushing for a response from the DOJ."

Failed gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried, a Democrat who lost in the August primary during her unsuccessful bid to unseat DeSantis, tweeted in Karen-style fashion that she "[j]ust got off the phone" with the White House and is asking the DOJ to investigate "DeSantis' political human trafficking." She uploaded a letter she sent Thursday addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland. "It also appears Ron illegally used taxpayer money to fund this vile stunt," Fried claimed. "I don't care how long it takes, we will hold him accountable for this."

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), too, penned a letter dated Thursday to Garland, formally requesting the DOJ begin "an immediate investigation" into "possible criminal or civil violations of federal law." In particular, Newsom urged the Department of Justice "to investigate whether the alleged fraudulent inducement would support charges of kidnapping under relevant state laws, which could serve as a predicate offense for charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) provisions of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970."

Newsom further alleged that the migrants were "targeted" based on their national origin and the intent was to "humiliate and dehumanize them," which he claimed was "in violation of their right to equal protection under the law," per 42 U.S.C. § 1985, prompting the DOJ to probe whether it "constituted a civil rights conspiracy."

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Another tweet of Newsom's claimed DeSantis was "profiteering off of the trafficking of children," which the California governor asserted "sounds a whole lot like the business of coyotes," who smuggle illegal migrants.

Although he's "no lawyer," Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson also questioned if DeSantis is "a coyote."

Squad member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) didn't name DeSantis directly but tweeted that it's "appalling that far-right politicians seem to have decided that fall before an election is their regularly scheduled time to commit crimes against humanity on refugees," only referencing "trafficking people for TV and clicks."

Ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who's been desperately clinging to relevance, called the transport of migrants to Martha's Vineyard "literally human trafficking" in an interview Friday on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Ultra-liberal talk show host Stephen Colbert claimed on Thursday night's Late Show: "DeSantis wasn't sending these folks to the Vineyard to have a good time. He was human trafficking these families as a political stunt."

Left-wing journalist and attorney Seth Abramson, known for pushing Russiagate theories, alleged on Twitter that "DeSantis moved humans across state lines against their will in a way that endangered them, and did so for profit—fundraising—which is the definition of human smuggling, a crime punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison. Maybe we stop pussyfooting and start calling this what it was?" Abramson later added misusing state funds and engaging in conspiracy to commit fraud to his growing laundry list of accusations he has against DeSantis.

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Abramson pressed the DOJ to investigate DeSantis and Abbott for "human smuggling and kidnapping after they transported migrants across state lines without their consent as a fundraising ploy." In a follow-up tweet, Abramson questioned: "Maybe DOJ should explain to America why Ron DeSantis is immune from prosecution for federal crimes?" He added: "Any 'consent' these migrants gave was under duress and thus legally void (if it was even asked for, let alone asked for in their native language) [...] Kidnapping should also be investigated."

Anti-Trump PAC MeidasTouch agreed that the "DeSantis human smuggling operation will likely be the subject of DOJ investigations in the near future. Anyone involved in facilitating this operation would be wise to lawyer up."

Ex-MSNBC host Keith Olbermann piled on as well: "Shouldn't DeSantis be charged federally for human trafficking? [...] You cannot lie to vulnerable immigrants...to lure them onto a plane, with the promise of rewards or other recompense - that's trafficking. DeSantis has already confessed this is his work. Arrest him."

FACTS: So were the migrants misled about the Martha's Vineyard destination? Documents viewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation confirm that the illegal immigrants were informed of the landing place beforehand.

"Yes, they were asked multiple times if they wanted to go," a source with close contact to the ground operation told the DCNF. "They were given rolling backpacks, food, snacks throughout, clothing, necessities like toothbrush, toiletries, etc.," the source said. "This is what was in the packet given to every migrant."

Prior to boarding the Martha's Vineyard-bound flights, packets were provided to the migrants including a map of Massachusetts, according to the DCNF. A label below a red star marking Martha's Vineyard—next to the Vineyard Airport—read "YOU ARE HERE" that was written in both English and Spanish. A brochure with the "Massachusetts Welcomes You" sign contained local resources, including contact information for community services and churches in the area, potential employment opportunities, as well as public assistance programs.  

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Boston immigration attorney Rachel Self showed reporters Friday the same map with Martha's Vineyard designated by the marker, according to The Miami Herald. Another frame of reference for the migrants was a U.S. map that had a red line linking Texas to Massachusetts, said Self, per The Martha's Vineyard Times.

"[The migrants] were provided with a cartoonishly simple map of Martha's Vineyard and the United States, and a brief brochure containing snippets from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts website," Self corroborated.

When a reporter pointed out that the maps show the migrants were notified where the planes were heading, Self replied, "You tell me how they know where this is. Really...Many people don't know where they are right now."

Despite the Left's depiction of chaos, confusion, and a sense of betrayal among the illegal migrants, a number of them reportedly felt great gratitude towards DeSantis for the short-lived stay at the "sanctuary" jurisdiction.

Telemundo reporter Cristina Londoño stated on MSNBC that the migrants "are not angry at Ron DeSantis; they are actually thanking him for having brought them to Martha's Vineyard, where they were very well received."

Some of the migrants were not only appreciative of the relocation, they said they were "brought to paradise," Londoño reported. When asked if the migrants feel "hurt" by the move, one man replied, "No, not really."

"Instead of hurting us, they did us a favor, so I'm not complaining," the lone migrant told Londoño.

Other migrants said that it turned out to be "un golpe de buena suerte — a stroke of good luck — that they had landed there," according to The Washington Post's profile on the Martha's Vineyard reception efforts.

As for Democrats like Fried claiming DeSantis "illegally used taxpayer money" to pay for the resettlement, the DeSantis campaign's rapid response director Christina Pushaw noted that many of the Democrat state legislators "feigning" outrage now had voted months ago for a budget with a specific line item to fund such transportation expenses. In early June, DeSantis signed the Freedom First budget for the fiscal year 2022 - 2023, authorizing funding to remove illegal migrants. The budget's highlights say it creates a $12 million program within the state's Department of Transportation "to facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens out of Florida."

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Experts in immigration law weighed in on the matter, telling Newsweek that the chances of a human trafficking charge against DeSantis or Abbott are "very slim." Cornell Law School professor Stephen Yale-Loehr told Newsweek that the cases are unlikely to meet the grounds for credible human trafficking under either state or federal laws. "As such, I think it is an exaggeration to claim that governors in Republican states are engaging in human trafficking by sending migrants to other states," Yale-Loehr determined. "In most cases that I have heard about, migrants have been happy to accept bus or plane tickets, even if they don't know where they are going."

Other legal opinions highlighted by Forbes expressed similar views disputing speculations that DeSantis violated 8 U.S. Code § 1324, a federal statute that prohibits transporting or attempting to transport illegal immigrants.

American Immigration Council policy director Aaron Reichlin-Melnick tweeted that the statute—often used to prosecute smugglers—would not apply given that the migrants were already released from U.S. Department of Homeland Security custody and allowed to remain in the U.S. while awaiting pending immigration proceedings.

According to a 2017 analysis from the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, transporting a migrant isn't enough to violate the transport provisions as it would have to be proven that the person facilitating the transportation was doing it "in furtherance of the individual's unlawful presence" in the country.

Forbes explained that it means the federal law would apply if a person was helping the migrant remain undetected by immigration authorities, but not if the move was incidental to the migrant's immigration status.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's definition of human trafficking, it is when a person is "induced by force, fraud or coercion" to work as a slave or involuntary servant under the total or near-total control of another individual or organization; perform a sexual act for money or anything of value; or pay off a loan by working to relieve the debt bondage for an agreed-upon period, unclear timeframe, or an indefinite span.

These exploitative situations occur when a victim is forced to do something against his or her will or when they're tricked into doing something by someone who is lying or suppressing the truth. Human traffickers might use "violence, manipulation, or false promises of well-paying jobs or romantic relationships to lure victims into trafficking situations," per the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's national public awareness campaign.

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A report by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement further explains that human trafficking involves exploiting men, women, or children for "the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation" while human smuggling entails "the provision of a service"—often transportation or fraudulent documents—to an individual who voluntarily seeks to gain illegal entry into a foreign country. While the two terms are often confused as interchangeable, it's critical to understand the difference between the two, ICE says.

Furthermore, human smuggling is officially defined by ICE as "the importation of people into the United States involving deliberate evasion of immigration laws." The federal offense includes bringing illegal aliens across America's border as well as "the unlawful transportation and harboring of aliens already in the United States."

Abramson admitted he conflated the two and apologized "for the confusion" but still called DeSantis "a criminal," after he had labeled Abbott and the Florida governor "America's foremost human traffickers." He noted he's not part of the "vanishingly small—percentage of lawyers" whose area of expertise is human trafficking legislation.

So what does actual human smuggling look like? As recent as Wednesday, Border Patrol agents rescued 13 migrants from a refrigerated tractor-trailer measured at 51 degrees Fahrenheit, foiling a human smuggling scheme, according to a CBP press release titled "Smugglers Put Migrants and Agents Lives in Danger." An inspection discovered the migrants attempting to conceal themselves within a load of frozen broccoli. The handful of migrants, including two unaccompanied minors, are nationals of Mexico and Central America.

Last week, Border Patrol agents on Sept. 9 stopped a truck pulling a flatbed trailer that was carrying a large wooden box. A search of the box found five migrants from El Salvador and Mexico trapped inside. The box was completely sealed and secured down with cargo straps with no means of escape for the occupants, CBP reports.

RATING: The claim made by the White House and prominent Democrats accusing DeSantis of human smuggling the 50 illegal migrants to Martha's Vineyard is FALSE, as several legal experts in immigration law concur, based on a federal smuggling statute. The illegal immigrants were reportedly informed ahead of time what the plans were, equipped with maps and pertinent information before the group embarked on the voyage.

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On-the-ground footage shows the migrants were grateful DeSantis sent the lot there, where visitors can dine on lobster and enjoy the white sands of the plentiful beaches. The luxury lifestyle of those wining and dining on Martha's Vineyard is far different from the harsh conditions that numerous migrants face on the treacherous journey by foot across America's southern border, where women and children are repeat victims of rape.

Still, the "immigrant-friendly" sanctuary was quick to expel the migrants with the help of military resources, not without the millionaires fundraising $42,000 off the "humanitarian crisis." According to the island community's GoFundMe page, all of the funds raised "to help Martha's Vineyard migrants" was pocketed directly for the Martha's Vineyard Community Foundation, which already has millions of dollars in assets under management.

Tags: BORDER CRISIS

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