Kushner criticizes DeSantis’s migrants flights: ‘Have to remember that these are human beings’

Former White House adviser Jared Kushner called the move by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to send migrants from the southern border to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., in protest of Biden’s immigration policies “very troubling” even as he advocated for former President Trump’s stringent immigration platform.  

“I personally watch what’s happening, and it’s very hard to see at the southern border … We have to remember that these are human beings, they’re people, so seeing them being used as political pawns one way or the other is very troubling to me,” Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, said Tuesday on Fox News’s “Outnumbered.”  

DeSantis chartered flights from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last week, transporting about 50 migrants to the Democrat-led island south of Cape Cod.  

The Florida governor was following the lead of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), who together have sent more than 10,000 migrants north to Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago.  

Many Democrats have decried the Republican governors for using the migrants to wage their political protest — and Kushner’s comments Tuesday echoed some of those sentiments even as he pushed for his father-in-law’s border policies.

“People don’t talk enough about the fact that these people are lured into these journeys by the coyotes, they’re paying a lot of money. I think 80 percent of women are sexually assaulted along the way. They come into America, they don’t have papers, many of them are exploited … so it’s a very sad situation,” he said.

“Under President Trump, we had the lowest border crossings in history when he turned over the administration. The border was secure, it was very safe,” Kushner added. 

Kushner said that restarting wall-building efforts on the southern border would deter migrants coming into the country and “prevent a lot of death and prevent a lot of sexual exploitation.”