Gov. Ron DeSantis is committing an unintentional act of kindness toward migrants

I nominate Governor Ron DeSantis for an award. Let’s call it the Accidental Humanitarian Award.

DeSantis two years ago inadvertently came to the aid of dozens of undocumented migrants arriving at the Texas border to make legally approved asylum claims.

They hit the jackpot by getting into DeSantis’ crosshairs.

The migrants could have easily gotten lost in the paperwork at the border had DeSantis not created a winding path that guaranteed they could live and work in the United States without fear of deportation.

Who would have thought that a misguided attempt at cruelty would take such a charitable turn?

Using Florida taxpayer money, DeSantis sent planes to Texas to pick up four dozen undocumented migrants from Venezuela and fly them to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

DeSantis did not intend to help the immigrants who arrived at the southern border. He thought he was strengthening his presidential campaign by being extra mean to them.

Using deception to send the migrants to a blue state vacation destination without notice would be one of those flashy, tough-guy acts he could pull off in the coffee shops of Iowa while standing tall in his high heels and campaigning. as president.

“We are not a sanctuary state, and it’s better to be able to go to a sanctuary state,” DeSantis boasted about the flights from Florida to Massachusetts. “And yes, we will help facilitate that transportation so you can move on to greener pastures.”

I think he meant “greener pastures” as a sarcastic remark rather than as a sincere hope for the well-being of the men, women and children who “volunteered” to board a plane for a one-way ticket to a distant destination . I didn’t know they were coming. The migrants were essentially fooled, as they were given false promises of waiting jobs and $10 McDonald’s gift cards to leave Bexar County, Texas at the urging of another state’s governor.

“I believe they were being hunted,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.

The Texas sheriff eventually filed criminal charges against unspecified participants in the plot. These charges have been referred to the local district attorney and grand jury.

Meanwhile, a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the transported migrants resulted in a federal court ruling last month that allows the migrants to pursue legal claims against the airline that Florida contracted to operate the flights.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that the migrants had made “sufficiently alleged” claims that a “civil rights conspiracy” had been carried out against them.

That’s a fancy way of saying they were kidnapped.

The lawsuit’s defendants include DeSantis, Florida’s Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue and other state officials.

The judge ruled that DeSantis and the other defendants “did not legitimately enforce immigration laws” but instead engaged in a “scheme to raise DeSantis’ national profile and manipulate (the migrants) for political purposes.”

The judge further wrote that treating “vulnerable individuals” in this way is “nothing short of extreme, outrageous, uncivilized, intolerable and astonishing.”

At first, I, like many Floridians, was dismayed that my tax dollars could be used to perpetuate brutality for one man’s personal benefit. But now I see what an accidental humanitarian act this turns out to be.

More: DeSantis reactivates the Florida State Guard against Haitian immigrants desperate for safety.

DeSantis’ ploy was so heartless that it benefited the migrants in ways he certainly never imagined.

By making them potential crime victims in an ongoing criminal investigation, DeSantis has made them eligible for a so-called U visa.

U visas are granted to people who may have information about a crime that could be useful to investigators prosecuting that crime.

It allows these crime victims to work in this country and obtain legal status for a period of up to four years. It also allows them to apply for a green immigration card after three of those years. U visa holders are not subject to deportation while the visa is in force.

Some migrants who fell prey to the Florida scheme applied for U.S. visas through immigration lawyers, and those visas were granted.

Who would have thought that DeSantis would prove to be such a friend to those desperate people in need?

Or to put it another way: that such an “extreme, outrageous, uncivilized, intolerable and stunning” act of cruelty could turn out so well for the victims and turn the perpetrator into an accidental humanitarian.

Frank Cerabino is a news columnist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the Gannett Newspapers chain.

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