On Wednesday, September 14, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis chartered a plane to transport 50 undocumented Venezuelan immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, an affluent island in Massachusetts.

At a cost of $12 million, the immigrants were dropped on the island and left to fend for themselves. Many of the immigrants were in need of food, clothing, and medical assistance. A local church took in many of the immigrants and provided them with necessary resources and shelter. 

Gov. DeSantis has been at the center of the heated controversy because many view this as a political move to make a point about immigration. Gov. DeSantis, on the other hand, defends his move by stating that Florida is “not a sanctuary state.” He blames Pres. Biden’s administration for attempting to reverse the previous administration’s policies in which immigrants were detained at the border – instead of allowing them to move to “sanctuary cities and states” like Florida.

Currently, police are investigating because many immigrants have filed lawsuits against Gov. DeSantis and his officials due to the fact that they were misled. Immigrants claim they didn’t know they were in Massachusetts, let alone Martha’s Vineyard, when they landed. Also, investigations are trying to see if these migrants were forcefully boarded on the plane, even though this is hard to prove.