Gavin Newsom digs in on Florida migrant flights, maintaining that crimes were committed
Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t buying the narrative from Florida officials that 36 migrants from Latin America were flown to Sacramento voluntarily. Instead, California’s Democratic governor is doubling down on his pursuit of criminal charges against those responsible.
After days of staying quiet, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’ office on Tuesday confirmed it had arranged the flights. In a statement, his administration defended the move, saying that “Florida’s voluntary relocation is precisely that — voluntary.”
In interviews with CNBC and Politico later that day, Newsom said his threat of pursuing criminal charges against those behind the operation still stands.
“That’s very serious, and it’s ongoing,” Newsom told Politico. “And we’ll make a determination as the facts present themselves.”
Newsom told CNBC that the California Department of Justice is looking into who should be ultimately held accountable.
“I mean, the buck should stop with Ron DeSantis and the games he’s playing,” Newsom told the outlet. “But it’s the folks on the front lines that were doing the dirty work. And that’s ultimately what we have to determine, is where the culpability lands and resides.”
The migrant flights raise tensions between Newsom and DeSantis — rising national stars who regularly exchange insults — to a new level. On Monday, Newsom tweeted that DeSantis’ role in the flights showed him to be a “small, pathetic man.” The Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate is set to visit Sacramento later this month for a fundraising event priced at $3,300 per ticket.
Legal experts previously told The Sacramento Bee that the incident was unlikely to reach the threshold for a criminal kidnapping case, as Newsom previously alluded to, but that officials may have a case for civil violations.
Over the past week, two flights with a total of 36 migrants were dropped off in Sacramento. The flights were arranged as part of a tax-funded Florida program to relocate migrants from border communities to other parts of the country.
The migrants — most from Venezuela and between 20 to 30 years old — were allegedly approached outside of a migrant center in El Paso, Texas, where people representing a “contracting organization” convinced them to relocate for housing and job opportunities, according to Sacramento ACT, a collaboration of Sacramento area religious congregations.
Local faith-based organizations are providing the migrants with services. They’ve been given housing in an undisclosed location, were taken shopping for clothing and received cellphones to contact family members.
This story was originally published June 7, 2023 at 12:50 PM.