Migrants who arrived in Martha's Vineyard to be moved to Cape Cod

The roughly 50 Venezuelan migrants who were flown from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on Wednesday were transported to Cape Cod on Friday, where they will have access to food, shelter and emergency services, a statement from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s office said.

The migrants will be brought to an emergency shelter at Joint Base Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, which served as an alternative medical care site during the Covid-19 pandemic, and as a shelter for displaced Louisiana residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“We are grateful to the providers, volunteers and local officials that stepped up on Martha’s Vineyard over the past few days to provide immediate services to these individuals,” Baker, a Republican, said in a statement. “Our administration has been working across state government to develop a plan to ensure these individuals will have access to the services they need going forward, and Joint Base Cape Cod is well equipped to serve these needs.”

The migrants’ arrival on Martha's Vineyard came as a surprise to the island community, known as a popular vacation spot for the wealthy and political elite, including former President Barack Obama. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, later confirmed he had facilitated the move.

Although their travel to Massachusetts was facilitated by DeSantis, the migrants who arrived on Martha's Vineyard on Wednesday came from Texas, not Florida — the DeSantis administration paid an aviation company, Vertol Systems Company Inc., $615,000 to transport the migrants from San Antonio to the exclusive vacation enclave. The Republican-led Florida Legislature had previously approved $12 million to go toward moving migrants out of Florida to other states.

“States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as 'sanctuary states' and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies,” said Taryn Fenske, communications director for DeSantis.

Upon arrival, many of the migrants did not know where they were and some said they had been misled with the promise of expedited work permits and other support.

President Joe Biden condemned the move, calling it a “political stunt.”

“Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props. What they’re doing is simply wrong,” he said Thursday at a gala for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Gary Fineout contributed to this report.