Fla. migrant flights to continue

Brendan Farrington ASSOCIATED PRESS

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Republican

FloridaGov.RonDeSantis’administration plans to continue flying migrants who entered the country illegally to Democratic strongholds, his spokeswoman said Saturday, a day after newly released records showed the state paid nearly $1million to arrange two sets of flights to Delaware and Illinois. Documents released Friday show that the two sets of planned flights will transport about 100 migrants to those two states. They were scheduled to happen before Oct.3 but apparently were halted or postponed. The contractor hired by Florida later extended the window for the trips until Dec.1, according to memos released by the state Department of Transportation.

When asked why they flights were postponed, DeSantis’ communications director, Taryn Fenske, noted that Florida has been busy dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

“While Florida has had all hands on deck responding to our catastrophic hurricane, the immigration relocation program remains active,” Fenske said in an email Saturday.

The flights would be a follow-up to the Sept.14 flights from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, that carried 49 mostly Venezuelan migrants to the island where former President Barack Obama owns a home. Local officials weren’t told in advance that the migrants were coming.

DeSantis claimed responsibility for the flights as part of a campaign to focus attention on what he has called the Biden administration’s failed border policies.