Florida’s planned migrant flight to Delaware in September was reportedly canceled at last minute
The Miami Herald reported on text messages released by the office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis showing organizers eager for the flight to President Joe Biden's home state.
Text messages released by the office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis show organizers in that state were eager to fly migrants to an airport in Delaware near the summer home of President Joe Biden, but the flight was canceled at the last minute, the Miami Herald reported.
There was no explanation for why the flight was canceled.
DeSantis’s office released text messages involving Larry Keefe, DeSantis’ “public safety czar,” were released Monday night in response to a court order in a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Florida Center on Government Accountability and records requests by the Herald and other news organizers, the Herald reported.
In September, a flight with migrants found at a shelter in San Antonio,Texas, was sent to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts at the expense of Florida taxpayers, the Herald reported.
The same shelter was where organizers from Florida found migrants for the flight to Delaware that was canceled the morning of its planned departure, the Herald reported.
The operation organized under DeSantis is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Sheriff’s Office in Bexar County, Texas, where San Antonio is located. The probe is focused on whether migrants were illegally enticed with false promises about jobs, housing, and other benefits awaiting them at their destination.
After the Martha’s Vineyard flight, which was celebrated by Republicans and conservative media in the midst of DeSantis’ reelection campaign, a report about a flight from Florida to Delaware caused government agencies and immigration-aid groups to mobilize in preparation in Biden’s home state.
National media descended on Delaware Coastal Airport in Georgetown, Del., for a flight that never arrived.
A DeSantis campaign aide declared on Twitter that the “entire Democrat-corporate media industrial complex” fell for disinformation without waiting for official word from DeSantis.
Delaware Online reported in October that another flight from Florida to Delaware is possible this month.