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photo: Dominic Chavez/Getty
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Human Trafficking Isn't Funny
An open letter by Redd Phlagg
Dear
Governor DeSantis:
You
don’t know me, and you probably don’t listen much to anyone who
doesn’t live in Florida and wouldn't
be willing to
vote for you (I
wouldn’t),
but I thought you should know a few important facts. Your recent
stunt flying approximately
fifty
immigrants
to
Martha’s Vineyard (from
the state of Texas,
no
less) under
false pretenses makes me think you don’t understand some very basic
legal concepts, especially in regards to immigrants.
Human
trafficking isn’t funny. In fact, it’s against the law. It’s
what you did to those poor people. Don’t believe me? The
US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)
defines human trafficking as follows:
Human
trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, is a form of
modern-day slavery in which traffickers may lure individuals with
false promises of employment and a better life.
Noncitizen
victims of human trafficking and qualifying criminal activity may not
have immigration status in the United States and may therefore
be fearful of working with law enforcement. Traffickers and abusers
often use a lack of immigration status to exploit and control
victims. In addition, language and cultural barriers may make it
difficult for victims to reach out for help after experiencing
victimization.
These
immigrants aren’t “illegals” or undocumented persons as
you seem to claim.
They aren’t refugees, so
they
wouldn’t
receive the benefits you claimed they
would
in a misleading brochure you had
your flunkies give
them.
They are asylum seekers. The
difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker
is a very important legal distinction. According
to the USCIS web site:
Refugee
status is a form of protection that may be granted to people who meet
the definition of refugee and who are of special humanitarian
concern to the United States. Refugees are generally people outside
of their country who are unable or unwilling to return home because
they fear serious harm. For a legal definition of refugee, see
section 101(a)(42)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
You may seek a referral for refugee
status only from outside of the United States.
Asylum status is a form of protection
available to people who:
Meet the
definition of refugee
Are already in
the United States
Are seeking admission at a port of
entry
You may apply for asylum in the United
States regardless of your country of origin or your current
immigration status.
These
folks were primarily from Venezuela and all
had
applied for asylum. They were awaiting their court dates in San
Antonio, Texas
to present their cases. By
luring
them away with
a
fake brochure full of false
promises
of jobs and a better life in “Massachusetts” (without
event attempting to help them understand how the US immigration system operates), you
committed human trafficking, a
form of modern-day slavery.
You've
always
wanted to be a slave seller,
didn’t
you,
Governor?
I
can tell.
You
exploited and controlled these innocent victims by
taking advantage
of the fact that they
could not speak or
read English.
You instructed your minions to give
them fake brochures detailing “benefits” these
newcomers would
receive if they got on the plane.
You then
employed
Homeland Security flunkies
to
fill
out USCIS paperwork on their behalf with
fake addresses in faraway places such as a homeless shelter in Tacoma,
Washington. Not knowing they were being tricked to report to a different court, they wouldn’t be able to make their court dates to
present
their asylum cases in
time, thus forcing the immigration judges’ hands to have them
jailed and then removed/deported.
What a funny prank! Putting
innocent people in jail—people of color, no less—who didn't have a clue they were being duped because they didn't speak English. Yeah, you're a
real
racist,
class
act, Guv.
Lying
to innocent
people
who
journeyed
far
from their homes because of
persecution and poverty doesn’t keep you awake at nights? I know
you’re going to throw your helpers under the bus to
keep yourself out of jail and
then
say
it was all their idea, but really… Filling out government forms
with
the intent to deceive both the immigrants
and the federal
government?
You
do understand that USCIS has and does reserve
the right to prosecute
any and all persons who fill out immigration
forms with the intent to commit fraud, right? (Here’s one example:
https://www.uscis.gov/archive/uscis-plays-critical-role-in-investigation-leading-to-the-arrest-of-new-york-immigration-attorney)
At
least one policing agency is taking this fraud and deception
seriously.
The
sheriff of Texas’s Bexar County, which contains San Antonio,
announced
a criminal investigation into the matter on Tuesday, saying in a
statement that the migrants had been “‘lured’ under false
pretenses” from a resource center in Bexar County before being
flown to Florida and then Martha’s Vineyard, “where they were
ultimately left to fend for themselves.”
--Ken
Klippenstein, RonDeSantis Charted Planes from GOP-Allied Donor...
Did
you really think everyone would just laugh and say, “What a great
political stunt!” and let bygones be bygones? And spending $12
million dollars from
Florida’s COVID-19 relief funding
to traffic immigrants? Do you think red-hatted MAGA Floridians
are
going to be happy to
see such a
huge wad of cash being
used to fly
immigrants from Texas?
Did everyone fly first class or did you just pocket the spare change?
I
think it was fortunate that, in the end, the people of Martha’s
Vineyard came through and did their best to take care of these lost
souls’ needs. Did you get a chuckle out of not even giving the
folks
up north a
warning
that
they were about to receive guests?
I suppose you did laugh.
Does the word “sadist” ring a bell with you?
Fortunately,
legal aid has come to the assistance of these coerced immigrants.
Three
of those migrants are suing DeSantis and other officials, claiming
that the stunt caused “economic, emotional, and constitutional
harms” to them and their families, including their children.
“These
immigrants, who are pursuing the proper channels for lawful
immigration status in the United States, experienced cruelty akin to
what they fled in their home country,” the
lawsuit states.
The actions by the
Florida governor and others were a “premeditated, fraudulent, and
illegal scheme centered on exploiting” the migrants’
vulnerabilities to advance the “personal, financial and political
interests” of DeSantis and his allies, the suit alleges.
DeSantis and the
other defendants named in the lawsuit “manipulated [migrants],
stripped them of their dignity, deprived them of their liberty,
bodily autonomy, due process, and equal protection under law, and
impermissibly interfered with the Federal Government’s exclusive
control over immigration in furtherance of an unlawful goal and a
personal political agenda,” the suit adds.
The
lawsuit states that the migrants’ Fourth Amendment protections
against unreasonable searches and their 14th Amendment due process
rights were
violated.
–- Chris
Walker, Migrants Tricked Onto Martha’s Vineyard Flight Sue DeSantis and Other Officials
Wow.
Civil right charges on top of human trafficking and fraud
allegations. Y’all have hit the jackpot, Governor!
I’ve
said about all I can say to you that’s printable on an open
internet forum, so I’ll sign off. It’s arrogant, entitled
elitists like you that really make me despise living in this country.
It takes so little to be kind to your fellow man—especially those
who have suffered greatly in their travels to find a safe place to call
home—but scum of the earth like you can’t even see how you’ve
gravely wronged these innocents and blackened both your state’s and
our nation’s reputations. I sure hope you’re happy.
May
you be arrested, tried, and found guilty and imprisoned for your
crimes against humanity.
Sincerely,
Redd
Phlagg
P.S.
I hope they find you a very
large bunk
mate in prison who finds your racist, elitist sense of humor just as disgusting as I
do.
[Editor’s
note: Feel free to send this letter or a similar one to Gov. Ron
DeSantis, voicing your objections to these immigrants' ill-treatment. He’d probably love his mail box/email box overflowing
with letters just about now. Here's his contact info: https://www.flgov.com/contact-governor/]
More
resources to help victims of human trafficking available at:
https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-of-human-trafficking-and-other-crimes/resources-for-victims-of-human-trafficking-and-other-crimes
Related Articles:
Asylum, Migration and US Foreign Policy https://popularresistance.org/asylum-migration-and-us-foreign-policy/
Migrants Tricked Into Martha's Vineyard Flight Sue DeSantis and Other Officials https://truthout.org/articles/migrants-tricked-into-marthas-vineyard-flight-sue-desantis-and-other-officials/
DeSantis Defends Phony Brochure. Sheriff Launches Criminal Investigation https://popularresistance.org/update-desantis-defends-phony-brochure-sheriff-launches-criminal-investigation/
Ron DeSantis Chartered Planes from GOP Allied Donor to Fly Migrants to Martha's Vineyard https://www.rsn.org/001/ron-desantis-chartered-planes-from-gopallied-donor-to-fly-migrants-to-marthas-vineyard.html
DOJ to Investigate DeSantis for Cruel Migrant Flights https://truthout.org/articles/house-democrats-call-on-doj-to-investigate-desantis-for-cruel-migrant-flights/
Biden's Peace for Afghanistan is a Humanitarian Disaster
https://scheerpost.com/2022/09/23/andres-auraz-bidens-peace-for-afghanistan-is-a-humanitarian-disaster/
Number of Ultra-Rich Hits All Time High as Someone Dies from Hunger Every 4 Seconds https://scheerpost.com/2022/09/21/number-of-ultrarich-hits-all-time-high-as-someone-dies-from-hunger-every-4-seconds/
Censorship from Book Burning to Racist Babies
https://scheerpost.com/2022/09/21/censorship-from-book-burning-to-racist-babies/
Seen on Twitter:
***
A Texas Sheriff has just opened a criminal investigation into Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis's intentional deception of children, families, and
migrants for an entirely self-interested political stunt.The truth is these families had just reached safety when they were treated as political props and lied to: told they would be taken to Boston where they could get work papers and housing, and instead flown to Martha's Vineyard.
Now,
evidence is mounting that DeSantis might have broken multiple laws in
his blind pursuit of political power – and we need him to be held
accountable by the highest law officers in the land.
Add your name to call on the Department of Justice to investigate
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for tricking migrants into flying to
Martha's Vineyard.
ADD YOUR NAME
The
callousness to think it's acceptable to lie to people who've already
endured heartbreaking journeys to flee disaster, and then leave them in
an intentionally chaotic and confusing situation is mind-blowing.
But
DeSantis is joining Governors Abbott and Ducey in a concerted campaign
to create and maintain the idea that immigration is in 'crisis' for
their own political benefit. Evidently, DeSantis even got the idea for
his Martha's Vineyard airlift from a July 26 Tucker Carlson monologue.
It's a tactic taken straight from the MAGA playbook, and it might have been illegal.
Experts
say DeSantis may have engaged in human trafficking – exploiting these
families' immigration statuses to lure them onto planes with the promise
of jobs – and that he might have abused the Florida law authorizing the
funds, because none of the migrants were even in Florida when they got
on the plane.
The Department of Justice has the power and authority to hold DeSantis accountable – Add your name to call on them to investigate Florida Governor Ron
DeSantis for tricking migrants into flying to Martha's Vineyard.
While
we press as hard as we can to stop DeSantis's cruelty, it's important
to remember that politically these stunts are backfiring.
Instead
of dividing us, in every location migrants have been sent to, caring
communities are springing up to welcome families with food, shelter, and
support.
And while we condemn the cruelty, we're also celebrating
the incredible spirit and humanity of these volunteers, who are showing
with every action the kind of American we can be.
Thanks for all you do,
Erin Mazursky | Interim Director
Families Belong Together
