Ron DeSantis tries to trump Trump with cynical, sadistic migrant flights

[marmar]

Ron DeSantis tries to trump Trump with cynical, sadistic migrant flights
There's an ugly history behind this week's Martha's Vineyard atrocity — even if Trump thinks it was all his idea

By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 16, 2022 9:56AM (EDT)


(Salon) There were so many scandals during the Trump years that it's hard to remember all. Some stand out, of course, like his blatant obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation and his attempted extortion against the Ukrainian government in hopes of smearing Joe Biden. And of course Trump went out with a bang, attempting a coup and inciting an insurrection. Those things got him impeached — and may end up getting him indicted. But there was so much more.

You certainly recall the horrific family separation policy at the border, which caused an international outcry and was finally reversed under pressure. Trump eventually did build segments of his silly wall, but did not get the sharp spikes on top or the alligator moat, ideas he actually raised at various points. He asked whether the Border Patrol or National Guard could shoot undocumented immigrants at border crossings (OK, maybe just in the leg) and he campaigned on the idea of reviving the hideous 1950s policy "Operation Wetback," which rounded up immigrants (and sometimes U.S. citizens as well) and dropped them off in the Mexican desert with no food, water or money. Luckily, American law has evolved enough to prevent such inhumane practices, which I'm sure disappointed him. (These days he's proposing a similar approach with unhoused citizens in American cities, so the idea has stuck with him.)

....(snip)....

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott apparently saluted smartly and got right to work. By early August he was sending busloads of asylum-seekers to New York and Washington, D.C., "as part of the Governor's response to the Biden Administration's open border policies," as an official statement from his office put it. (Never mind that the Biden administration has no such policies.)

....(snip)....

Not to be outdone by Abbott's stunt, the GOP's current troll king, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, decided this week to take Carlson's advice to send asylum seekers to Martha's Vineyard, the affluent resort island off the coast of Massachusetts. Even though Florida is not a border state, DeSantis has already had the state legislature appropriate millions for the purpose of sending migrants out of state. (His lieutenant governor made a major gaffe, however, when she suggested the state might use that money to send the recent influx of Cuban refugees back to that island, a huge political no-no in Florida.)

Since DeSantis didn't have any refugees readily available to expel this week, he used his forced deportation money to charter a couple of jets and coerce migrants who were in Texas — halfway across the country — to board them, claiming they were being sent to Boston with promises of resources and support. Instead the migrants were dropped off on Martha's Vineyard, a famous summer resort with a year-round population of around 15,000. No one there knew they were coming, and they were essentially dumped at the island's tiny airport like cargo. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/09/16/ron-desantis-tries-to-with-cynical-sadistic-migrant-flights/

[dalton99a]

1. DeSantis is far more evil and methodical than the big mouth idiot

[Ocelot II]

2. The residents of Martha's Vineyard, in contrast, are actually decent human beings:

https://www.capecodtimes.com/picture-gallery/news/2022/09/15/marthas-vineyard-st-andrews-episcopal-church-hall-sheltering-immigrants/10388537002/

[Jade Fox]

3. Trump would have had someone else do it so he could feign ignorance and say he "barely knew the "...

That's the difference between DeSantis and Trump, which DeSantis seems completely ignorant about.

DeSantis just comes off as a hateful bully.

[Walleye]

4. Maybe they should quit lying to the world that we have "open borders"