from August through June, including 40,151 in June, the latest figures released. In the previous seven months, it paroled only 11 migrants.Kidnapping is a high legal threshold, but migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard say they were taken there on false pretenses. Migrants sign waivers that the transportation is free and voluntary.
They stopped first in Florida, before going to Martha’s Vineyard, but DeSantis has not emphasized that. Instead, he maintains that the two flights were a legitimate use of funds because the migrants otherwise would have aimed to go to Florida, though he offered no evidence of that or say how migrants might have been vetted.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had more than 4,800 domestic flights in the last year, including 434 in August, according to, a group that criticizes U.S. enforcement. The top five destinations from March to August were: Alexandria, Louisiana; Laredo, Texas; Phoenix; and Harlingen and El Paso in Texas. ICE also buses many migrants.
New York limits cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities, partly by prohibiting police officers from participating in joint enforcement and or by letting immigration agents work in city jails.