The “Cynical, Disgusting” Migrant Flights to Martha’s Vineyard
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 22 September 2022
⏱️ 34 minutes
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Summary
Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis flew roughly fifty migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Some of these migrants said that they were actively misled about where they were being sent and what would await them when they arrived. They have since filed a lawsuit, accusing DeSantis and other state officials of executing “a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme” in which vulnerable people were used as political props. The New Yorker staff writer Jonathan Blitzer has written extensively about the politics and policy of the southern border. He speaks with the guest host Tyler Foggatt about the rogue practices of Border Patrol, the surge of asylum seekers from Venezuela, and why Republican governors are “calling the shots” on the Biden immigration agenda.
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| 0:48.7 | Welcome to the political scene. |
| 0:50.8 | I'm Tyler Foggett, a senior editor at The New Yorker. |
| 0:55.7 | For months, Republican Governor Greg Abbott has been busing migrants from Texas to D.C. in New York, arguing that liberal |
| 1:00.3 | city should bear the burden of the Biden administration's border policy. Last week, Florida |
| 1:05.5 | Governor Ron DeSantis escalated this active political feeder by flying 50 migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard. |
| 1:12.9 | Some of these migrants said that they were actively misled about where they were being sent |
| 1:16.6 | and what would await them when they arrived. They have since filed a lawsuit, accusing DeSantis |
| 1:21.6 | and other state officials of executing what they call a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal |
| 1:26.7 | scheme in which vulnerable people |
| 1:28.5 | were used as political props. My colleague Jonathan Blitzer, who writes about immigration policy for |
| 1:34.2 | the New Yorker, joins me today to discuss what's happening at the border and how conservatives are |
| 1:38.9 | exploiting it in the lead-up to the midterms. Hi, John. Nice to see you. Likewise,. So 50 migrants arrived in Martha's Vineyard in the middle of the night. |
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