Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis faced a firestorm of controversy and media coverage when in 2022 his office flew 50 Venezuelans to Martha’s Vineyard. However, a broader Biden administration program that has led to hundreds of thousands of migrants reportedly being flown into Florida is not attracting the same attention.
DeSantis’ office had the migrants flown into the Massachusetts vacation spot, popular with rich liberal politicians, in 2022 amid a then-record surge of migrants across the southern border.
While the numbers being flown to Martha’s Vineyard were relatively small, Democrats accused DeSantis of using migrants as political pawns. As Fox News Digital noted at the time, multiple media outlets and networks erupted in anger, calling the move a "stunt" and detailing how their treatment was "inhumane" – something DeSantis’ office denied.
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Other TV personalities accused DeSantis of engaging in human trafficking and asked whether a crime was being committed. Local officials complained that they had been given no notice of the migrants’ arrival.
But there has not been anything close to the level of outrage from media outlets this week after a report that over 326,000 migrants have flown into the state of Florida via a Biden parole program which, while different in many aspects, has led to a significant number of new arrivals in the Sunshine State that vastly outweigh the 50 migrants flown to the tony Massachusetts island.
The parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV) was introduced first for Venezuelans in October 2022 and expanded for the other nationalities in January 2023.
The program allows migrants who have not entered illegally to apply for parole in other countries and then travel or fly directly into the U.S. if they have a sponsor and are fully vetted. The program does not itself facilitate flights, and migrants are responsible for their own travel. They are given work permits and two-year authorization to live in the U.S.
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The program has caused controversy in some quarters. It was hit by a lawsuit from 20 states, who say it is an abuse of the parole system. That lawsuit was struck down, but Florida says it intends to keep fighting the program.
"It’s an illegal program. They’re bringing people in who don’t have a right to be in this country from foreign countries," DeSantis said on Wednesday in reaction to a Center for Immigration Studies report which found that 326,000 migrants have arrived via Miami. DHS says that more than 386,000 nationals have arrived overall so far.
"The federal government is encouraging illegal immigration and even aiding these individuals to enter the country," DeSantis communications director Bryan Griffin said. "They’ve cloaked these secretive flights as a lawful parole program."
DeSantis noted the recent case of a Haitian migrant who had been flown in via CHNV and was now charged with the rape of a 15-year-old girl.
"That is something that would have been prevented if they’d just followed the law," DeSantis said.
DHS has rejected the criticisms against it, also rejecting claims that it is a "secret" program, noting that details of the program have been made public.
"More than 14 months ago, on January 5, 2023, DHS announced processes providing certain Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans who have a supporter in the United States, undergo and clear robust security vetting, and meet other eligibility criteria, to come to the United States in a safe, orderly, and lawful way," a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement on Wednesday.
"These processes were built on the success of the process for Venezuelans. These processes are publicly available online, and DHS has been providing regular updates on their use to the public. These processes are part of the Administration’s strategy to combine expanded lawful pathways with stronger consequences to reduce irregular migration, and have kept hundreds of thousands of people from migrating irregularly."
But DeSantis, noting his administration’s prior victories in the courts over Biden parole policies, is hoping he will get this one shut down too.
"We’ve been after them on this parole for a long time, we’ve actually won in court, and it’s our hope we’re going to be able to get that shut down," DeSantis said.
Meanwhile, DeSantis' name was dropped from a lawsuit over the Martha's Vineyard flights this week, although a judge ruled that migrants can sue the aviation company that transported them.
Fox News' Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
