Newsom calls for US inquiry into DeSantis and migrant flight to Martha’s Vineyard

© Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS Gavin Newsom speaks a Homekey site to announce awards for homeless housing projects across the state on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, in Los Angeles.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called Thursday for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to fly several immigrant families to Martha’s Vineyard.

“This is nothing more than a stunt, but it’s done with the cruel intention to humiliate and dehumanize children no older than the governor’s children themselves,” Newsom said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee editorial board.

“It’s a disgrace, it’s repugnant, and, I would argue, it’s illegal.”

Newsom sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Thursday, imploring him to investigate any potential criminal or civil violations, particularly any “charges of kidnapping” after alleged “fraudulent inducement.”

Newsom called DeSantis and his fellow GOP governors “functional authoritarians,” and said that the Republican Party “has crossed the rubicon of any decency.”

The decision to fly the families to Martha’s Vineyard – the small, posh island off the coast of Massachusetts – was simply to “transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations,” Taryn Fenske, DeSantis’ communications director, said on Wednesday. Earlier this year, DeSantis advocated the Republican-led Florida Legislature to set aside $12 million for this exact purpose.

Newsom was joined by the Biden Administration, who also spoke out against DeSantis’ political maneuvering. But when asked if they were going to take legal action, said they will refer to the DOJ.

“There’s a legal way of doing this and for managing migrants. Republican governors interfering in that process and using migrants as political pawns is shameful, is reckless, and just plain wrong,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday.

While DeSantis was sending the families to Massachusetts, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent two buses of immigrant families to Washington, D.C., reportedly to a location close to Vice President Kamala Harris’ D.C. home.

The GOP is “100%” a threat to democracy, Newsom said. The election “is a profound and existential moment” for the Democratic party.

“Democracy is at risk with functional authoritarians,” Newsom said of the GOP on Thursday.

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