In their coverage of a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on behalf of migrants who were flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, right-wing media have attacked both the plaintiffs’ lawyers and Democrats, claiming they're exploitative and hypocritical.
The lawsuit, filed by the Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights and Latino advocacy group Alianza Americas, argues that DeSantis fraudulently coerced 50 migrants onto two charter flights from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard under “false promises and misrepresentations” of jobs in Boston or Washington, D.C., thus violating their constitutional rights. Migrants say they were “surprised” to have landed on Martha’s Vineyard, where local authorities and community organizers were “scrambling” to gather resources, such as food, shelter, and translating services. Attorneys now demand DeSantis be held accountable for “inducing immigrants to travel across state lines by fraud and misinterpretation” and “for the harm suffered by the migrants.”
DeSantis’ office responded to the lawsuit by attacking the intentions of the migrant’s lawyers and deflecting from their involvement in this political stunt by pivoting to the Biden administration’s supposedly “reckless border policies.”
Right-wing media followed DeSantis’ lead by arguing that the lawsuit is baseless; claiming the Lawyers for Civil Rights group and Democrats are exploiting the migrants for political theater; and highlighting that George Soros’ Open Society Foundation has previously funded the nonprofit involved in the class action suit.