On
NBC 6
A senator from South Florida has filed a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the recent relocation of migrants, claiming it violates state law since migrants are not being relocated from Florida.
Jason Pizzo, a Democrat from District 38, which includes Miami Beach,
filed the lawsuit as a regular citizen
against DeSantis, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue.
The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis used language, in a bipartisan budget, that appropriated $12 million to establish a program "transportation of unauthorized aliens from this state consistent with federal law."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the migrants came voluntarily.Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Pizzo said the migrants who were brought to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, last week were seeking asylum and have legal status in the United States.
Pizzo added that the migrants were brought from Texas and that
violates the language used in the budget
.
Pizzo voted in favor of the budget appropriating $12 million in the last legislative session.
This is how Ron DeSantis reacted to the demand of the migrants he sent to Massachusetts
Sept.
21, 202203:09
DeSantis turned to a contractor to help him identify a group of Venezuelan migrants, who were flown from Texas to Martha's Vineyard.
"We want to voluntarily transport out of Florida so we don't have to bear the cost, and there is a vendor that is doing it for us," the governor said Thursday afternoon, adding that the vendor is profiling people who may be interested in going to Florida.
[Investigation opened into sending migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts]
This revelation comes days after a lawsuit was filed against the governor, alleging that immigrants were lured with incentives such as
McDonald's gift certificates and free hotel stays
, and were promised jobs, housing and educational opportunities if they boarded planes that were supposed to go to Boston or Washington, DC
[This is how Ron DeSantis defended his decision to send migrants to Martha's Vineyard]
DeSantis said all the immigrants came voluntarily and were given information about assistance they could receive in the area, which he called "perhaps the most elegant sanctuary jurisdiction in the world."