[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition to demand that Vertol Systems STOP trafficking
migrants NOW!
Dear MoveOn member,
Ron DeSantis used over $600,000 in taxpayer dollars to lure 50 Venezuelan
asylum-seekers onto a flight to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.^1,2 The
stories from the Venezuelan immigrants are both heartbreaking and
enraging. When they arrived, many asked, "Where am I?" They were
intentionally deceived and were put on a plane with nothing but a fake
brochure that said they would be given benefits like eight months cash
assistance, housing, food, clothing, expedited work papers, jobs, and
assistance registering their children for school.^3 But it was all a lie.
It's absolutely inhumane.
It turns out that Ron DeSantis paid Vertol Systems, a company known to
back DeSantis allies, $1.5 MILLION in taxpayer dollars to carry out this
flight and future flights.^4,5
[ [link removed] ]John, we cannot allow these flights to continue and must
come together to stop them. Will you sign the petition to demand that
Vertol Systems STOP carrying out these flights NOW?
Andres, one of the immigrants, said, "She offered us help. Help that never
arrived. Now we are here. We got on the plane with a vision of the future,
of making it. Look, when you have no money and someone offers help, well,
it means a lot."^6
And, unfortunately, Ron DeSantis, Florida Republicans, and Vertol Systems
didn't stop with the Martha's Vineyard flight. In June, 36 Latin American
migrants were deceived and promised work, housing, and food if they agreed
to be flown to California on a chartered flight organized by Vertol
Systems.^7,8 And just last month, DeSantis floated the idea of flying
Haitian migrants to Martha's Vineyard.^9 Enough is enough! We have to stop
these flights before it's too late.
[ [link removed] ]Click here to add your name to the petition to tell Vertol Systems:
Stop organizing and carrying out these inhumane flights NOW!
Families, including children, were transported across state lines under
false pretenses. This was a premeditated, political effort targeting
vulnerable people simply seeking a better life. Vertol Systems must end
their role in these reprehensible flights NOW!
[4]Sign the petition
The migrants who were trafficked to Martha's Vineyard have since sued
Vertol Systems, and a federal judge has allowed the lawsuit to proceed and
said that there was evidence to support that the migrants were targeted
because they were Latinx.^10
The federal judge recognized these sham flights as a political stunt,
asserting that DeSantis was exploiting migrants "in a scheme to boost the
national profile of Defendant DeSantis and manipulate them for political
ends," and ruled that the treatment of these migrants was "extreme,
outrageous, uncivilized, intolerable, and stunning.^"11 It’s shameful that
instead of treating asylum-seekers with the due process, dignity, and care
they deserve, Vertol Systems and Republican governors like Ron DeSantis
are exploiting them and using them as political pawns.
[ [link removed] ]It must end. Sign the petition to demand that Vertol Systems stop
trafficking migrants NOW!
This is not an isolated incident, either. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is
also cruelly sending migrants across the country. And Republicans across
the country have shown no signs of stopping their cruel, anti-immigrant
agenda.
In fact, after opposing President Biden's coronavirus recovery package,
DeSantis allocated $12 milliom of interest earnings from the Coronavirus
State Fiscal Recovery Fund (which is supposed to be used to help
Floridians recover from the impacts of the pandemic) to implement this
migrant trafficking stunt, with no regard for their safety or
well-being.^12
[ [link removed] ]We must come together to demand that Vertol Systems stop organizing
these flights immediately. Not another flight! Will you add your name to
the petition?
We will not forget: Families, including children, are being transported
across state lines under false pretenses. And immigrants are being treated
inhumanely. We also can’t forget about the Haitian immigrants whom Border
Patrol agents in Texas struck with horse reins.^13 We can’t forget that
there was and is a lack of food, water, and medical care in the migrant
camps in Del Rio. And there has still been no accountability for that.
These are not isolated incidents. They are deliberate actions relentlessly
carried out by anti-immigrant Republicans. It's completely unacceptable,
and there is no excuse for Vertol Systems to continue profiting off of
deceived migrants. They must stop organizing the flights NOW.
[ [link removed] ]Click here to add your name to this urgent petition, and then pass it
along to three friends to spread the word.
Republicans want to divide us by demonizing immigrants. But no one is
illegal on stolen land. And immigrants deserve to be welcomed and treated
with due process, dignity, and care. Together, we can keep fighting for
comprehensive, practical immigration policy, including a pathway to
citizenship for undocumented folks.
Thanks for all you do.
–Jensine, Seth, Rahna, Sana, and the rest of the team
1. "DeSantis Flying Migrants to Martha's Vineyard May Have Violated
Federal Law, Experts Say," Rolling Stone, September 15, 2022
[link removed]
2. "Watch: '60 Minutes' goes deep on Martha's Vineyard migrant incident,”
Boston.com, October 16, 2023
[link removed]
3. "GOP governors put focus on migrants with Martha's Vineyard transport,"
Politico, September 15, 2022
[link removed]
4. "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis off the hook in migrant flight lawsuit as
new details emerge," Tallahassee Democrat, April 2, 2024
[link removed]
5. "Two planes of migrants landed in California within a week—both flown
by the same air charter company," Quartz, June 6, 2023
[link removed]
6. "Migrants on Martha's Vineyard flight say they were told they were
going to Boston," NPR, September 15, 2022
[link removed]
7. "Two planes of migrants landed in California within a week—both flown
by the same air charter company," Quartz, June 6, 2023
[link removed]
8. "Asylum-seekers flown to California say they were deceived," CBS News,
June 17, 2023
[link removed]
9. "DeSantis threatens to send migrants fleeing violence in Haiti to
Martha's Vineyard," NBC Boston, March 20, 2024
[link removed]
10."Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis off the hook in migrant flight lawsuit as
new details emerge," Tallahassee Democrat, April 2, 2024
[link removed]
11. "Migrants Secure Right to Sue Vertol Systems for DeSantis Orchestrated
Martha's Vineyard Flights," MSN, April 5, 2024
[link removed]
12. "Controversy continues over DeSantis' $12 million plan to transport
undocumented migrants out of Florida," Tallahassee Democrat, August 28,
2022
[link removed]
13. "After Del Rio, some Haitian migrants found safety in the U.S. But
many have not," NPR, September 7, 2022
[link removed]
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