Bloomberg — California officials blame Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for sending two chartered flights of undocumented migrants to the state capital of Sacramento, ahead of the Republican’s fundraising event there on June 19.
About 20 migrants landed in Sacramento on Monday, after 16 people were flown there late last week, the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
On Twitter, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, slammed DeSantis, who in May launched his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, as a “small, pathetic man.” Newsom suggested DeSantis could be liable for kidnapping charges.
The Florida governor’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment. Last year, DeSantis ordered undocumented migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, an incident that he highlights in his 2024 presidential bid. Both flights to Sacramento appeared to use the same contractor hired by Florida for that trip, according to Bonta’s office.
In May, DeSantis signed into law some of the strictest immigration policies in the US, including a $12 million budget to continue the “Unauthorized Alien Transport Program,” which serves to relocate undocumented migrants to “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
The law also calls for the suspension of licenses for any businesses that are employing undocumented people. There are an estimated 800,000 undocumented immigrants living in Florida, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
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