Daily Archives: December 12, 2022

The posh liberal enclave of Marthas Vineyard has been thrown into chaos by the arrival of two planeloads of migrants sent there by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to local reports.

Roughly 50 migrants were flown to the famed Massachusetts island constituting what the local tourism board called a humanitarian crisis Thursday.

This is an ongoing situation, wrote a county emergency-management rep in a statement, noting that local authorities are actively collaborating to develop a coordinated regional response.

We have reached out to our State and Federal partners for additional and long term support and assistance.

Some local pols learned about the new arrivals during a Wednesday night meeting of the West Tisbury Select Board with Town Administrator Jennifer Rand saying shed been receiving furious texts from residents, the MV Times reported.

Im a little unclear about the situation, as is everybody, because everybody is scrambling a bit, Rand said.

Rand said the migrants were headed to the St. Andrews Church in Edgartown and might be given short-term housing at the Marthas Vineyard Agricultural Societys Ag Hall.

But that wont work for long because it doesnt have beds or showers, she said, adding that feeding the migrants could be difficult, too, because the Marthas Vineyard Red Cross was not participating in the official response.

In a prepared statement Thursday, the Red Cross said its been in contact with local emergency management, and while we have not yet been asked to provide any local support, we stand ready to do that.

Lisa Belcastro, the coordinator for the Marthas Vineyard homeless shelter, called the emergency housing arrangements for migrants a stop-gap. She suggested they will eventually need to be moved to a different location.

At some point in time they have to move from here to somewhere else, Belcastro told local news outlets. We cannot, we do not, have the services to take care of 50 immigrants.

She noted the island is already tight on housing.

Were in a housing crisis as we are on this island, Belcastro said. So we dont, we cant, house everyone here that lives here and works here.

One snarky Twitter user quipped, A quick Air BNB search came up with 297 homes currently avaliable. Im sure they have a lot of empty summer homes avalible.

Beth Folcarelli, chief executive officer of Marthas Vineyard Community Services, told the Vineyard Gazette that the migrants came with folders with a pamphlet with our information.

We dont have refugee services, I had no idea about any of this, she said.

I only found out because one of them gave metheir folder.

Local high-school senior Maria Sanchez Roa, who was born in Colombia, said she was recruited to serve as an emergency translator.

I was home watching Princess Diana videos when my mom burst through the door and told me to go to the high school, she said.

Im here because Im a Hispanic kid who speaks Spanish.

Marthas Vineyard has long been a favored vacation spot for left-leaning celebrities and Democratic pols including former President Barack Obama, who owns an $11.75 million estate where he celebrated his 60th birthday with a blow-out party last year.

But former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News that I doubt theyll embrace the migrants on Marthas Vineyard.

You know, these are all sanctuary cities until theyre in their sanctuary, he said Wednesday night on Jesse Watters Primetime.

Online responses to the reports about the migrant arrivals included outrage from readers, including one who said, Any blame lays at the feet of President Biden.

Thousands of people pour into the country daily and the federal government refuses to set any policy whatsoever other than the door is wide open, wrote Fred from Edgartown.

Whats most amazing is that we have a serious humanitarian issue and the current administration has no idea what to do (anybody seen or heard from the border czar? Still no root causes). Blaming over run governors of border states who never claimed to be sanctuary havens is ignoring the problem.

Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.

Eric, from Tisbury, called on Gov. Charlie Baker to open up barracks on nearby Cape Cod to house the migrants while the state figures out what to do.

We do not have enough housing for the people living here, Eric said.

Helen from Vineyard Haven wrote, Now I see why they want a new giant school in Vineyard Haven and ASAP.

I have been in tears for weeks over our taxes in VH going through the roof and worrying how to pay them, now this! I cant take much more, I senior citizen, alone and I am a 7th generation island native on a very fixed income, Helen wrote.

Additional reporting by David Propper

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Martha's Vineyard in chaos after DeSantis ships migrants

President Biden made light of the potential arrival of migrants at an airport near his summer White House in Delaware on Tuesday by sarcastically inviting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to the area.

During an unrelated event at the White House, Biden brushed off a reporters question about DeSantis apparent plan to send a planeload of migrants to the presidents home state, just days after targeting a posh liberal enclave in Massachusetts.

He should come visit, Biden cracked.

We have a beautiful shoreline.

Earlier, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House was bracing for the migrants pending arrival.

We have received word of the flights, Jean-Pierre said during an afternoon briefing.

We are coordinating closely with state officials and local service providers who are prepared to welcome these families in an orderly manner as they pursue their asylum claims.

A charter jet that DeSantis used to send migrants to Marthas Vineyard, Mass., was scheduled to take off Tuesday morning from San Antonio, Texas, and make a stop in Crestview, Florida, before landing at the Delaware Coastal Airport, according to the founder of the Popular Information newsletter.

The tiny airport, outside Georgetown, Del., is less than 20 miles from Rehoboth Beach, where Biden and first lady Jill Biden bought a $2.7 million vacation home just blocks from the Atlantic Ocean in 2017.

But flight tracking sites listed the plane as delayed or with an unknown status and San Antonio Kelly Field airport confirmed to the Post no flight had taken off for Florida by midday, four hours after the plane was scheduled to depart.

Instead, the plane appeared to have left Longview, Texas, without stopping in San Antonio, and was headed to Nashville, with its next stop in Teterboro, N.J.

The plane landed in Teterboro Tuesday night with no migrants aboard, according to a reporter on scene.

The change in plans raised the possibility that authorities had intervened or that the charter was a decoy.

But a representative of Delaware Gov. John Carney and a contingent of state troopers were waiting at the Delaware Coastal Airport in case the migrants showed up.

We will be ready to help them and ensure they have food, medical and mental health support, Carney spokesperson Emily Hershman told The Post.

To be quite candid, thats sort of all I know right now.

DeSantis office didnt immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.

But on Monday night, DeSantis rejected the liberal outrage that greeted his Marthas Vineyard flights.

Millions of people since Bidens been president, illegally coming across the southern border. Did they freak out about that? No, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

You had migrants die in the Rio Grande. You had 50 die in Texas in a trailer because they were being neglected. Was there a freakout about that? No there wasnt.

DeSantis added: Its only when 50 get put into Marthas VineyardAnd not only did they not welcome them, but they deported them the next day with the National Guard. Give me a break.

A representative for the City of San Antonio said it had been discouraging migrants from accepting rides or assistance from strangers outside of its Migrant Resource Center.

US Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) said he had spoken to the citys mayor and sheriff about DeSantis planned flight and blasted the Florida governors continued use of false promises to lure people onto planes but did not say if he had intervened to stop the flight.

On Wednesday, DeSantis flew about 50 migrants from Texas to Marthas Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts thats become a favorite summer destination for left-leaning celebrities and Democratic politicians.

Former President Barack Obama vacationed there while he was in office and he and former first lady Michelle Obama bought an $11.75 million estate along the Edgartown Great Pond in 2019.

The migrants unexpected arrival caused chaos, with a local homeless shelter coordinator saying the liberal enclave didnt have the services to take care of 50 immigrants, and we certainly dont have housing even though 63% of homes are owned by seasonal residents and there were reportedly nearly 300 available for rent on Airbnb.

Less than 48 hours later, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker called in the National Guard to move the migrants from Marthas Vineyard to a military installation on Cape Cod.

Florida reportedly paid Vertrol Systems Co. $615,000 on Sept. 8 to handle the initial relocation and paid the company another $950,000 on Monday, bringing the total cost to more than $1.5 million.

The plane that was reportedly bound for Delaware is a 30-passenger. twin-engine Dornier operated by the Ultimate Jet charter company of North Canton, Ohio, according to online records. Ultimate Charters declined to comment when contacted by The Post.

The sheriff of Bexar County, Texas, Javier Salazar, has said hesinvestigating the Marthas Vineyard flights, alleging that the migrants were exploited and hoodwinked into making this trip.

Meanwhile,AlianzaAmericas, a Chicago-based nonprofit network of migrant groups, and three Venezuelan migrants filed a class-action civil rights suit Tuesday against DeSantis, Florida Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue and others over the flights to Marthas Vineyard.

The individual plaintiffs using the pseudonyms Yanet Doe, Pablo Doe and Jesus Doe alleged that they were induced to board the planes with McDonalds gift cards and false promises that theyd be given jobs, housing and schooling after they landed.

The filing in Massachusetts federal court seeks at least $75,000 in damages and a court order barring DeSantis from using fraud and misrepresentation to continue what it calls his inhumane scheme and political stunt.

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DeSantis apparently sending migrants to Biden's summer home