Newsom calls on DOJ to probe Florida’s sending of migrants to California

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to look into a program funded by Florida that has transported migrants from Texas to the Golden State as well as to Martha’s Vineyard.

“It is unconscionable to use people as political props by persuading them to travel to another state based on false or deceptive representations. We urge USDOJ to investigate potential violations of federal law by those involved in this scheme,” reads a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The letter, asking the DOJ to open criminal and civil investigations into the matter, is signed by Newsom and California attorney general Rob Bonta — as well as Texas’s Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.

The letter contends it’s “not uncommon for local jurisdictions and nongovernmental organizations to facilitate onward travel from the border” in some instances, but that “this scheme is different: according to news reports, recruiters deceived migrants into taking flights to these particular locations based on promises of jobs and shelter.”

Last September, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) — who is now running for president in 2024 — sent dozens of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard as part of a migrant relocation effort, as several GOP governors moved to bus or fly thousands of migrants north to Democrat-led cities in protest of Biden administration immigration policies.

The Bexar County sheriff’s office last month said it had filed a criminal case with the county’s district attorney over the 2022 incident in which 49 migrants were flown from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., the office said. Despite Florida’s claims that the migrants participated voluntarily, Salazar’s investigation found migrants were “induced to accept free travel based on false representations,” according to the new letter.

Florida last month also admitted to being behind recent migrant flights to Sacramento, Calif., from Texas, and Bonta promised to investigate potential wrongdoing by Florida officials related to the flights. 

The California attorney general told The Hill that he’s “glad the state of Florida is accepting blame for what they’ve done.” Newsom knocked DeSantis over the migrant flights.

The new letter from the California and Texas officials says reports indicate migrants flown to California may have been “similarly induced by deceptive representations about access to jobs, housing, or other services.”

The officials are asking the DOJ to get involved because “the scheme stretches from Massachusetts to California and touches upon no fewer than five states,” though separate investigations into potential state law violations are also underway.

“Accordingly, we urge the USDOJ to open federal criminal and civil investigations into these incidents. Indeed, as noted in prior correspondence from Governor Newsom to USDOJ related to the Martha’s Vineyard flight, given the multijurisdictional, interstate nature of this ongoing scheme, the federal government’s involvement seems especially appropriate,” the letter reads.

The GOP governors of Texas and Arizona have led the charge in sending migrants north to so-called sanctuary cities, including New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) earlier this week said his state has bused over 24,000 migrants to the cities.