The transportation of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard was criticized by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who described it as “literally human trafficking.” The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, transported about 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. The Obamas are one of the island’s part-time residents. DeSantis follows Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who bused migrants earlier this year to Washington, DC, New York, and Chicago.
DeSantis’ decision set off a media firestorm amid a fierce debate over the nation’s handling of immigration. In his remarks, Biden urged Republican governors not to send migrants to Democratic cities and communities, calling them “political stunts” and “un-American.”
Several Massachusetts Democrats, including representatives from Martha’s Vineyard, called on DeSantis to stop using illegal immigrants as “political pawns,” suggesting that the town finds it challenging to deal with new immigrants.
There was outrage on Twitter after Martha’s Vineyard declared a “humanitarian crisis.” Media personalities like Jonathan Chait and Stephen Colbert of CBS’ “The Late Show” have claimed that progressives’ goodwill is evident in the situation, said the NY Post.
Hillary Clinton who joined the liberal talk show “Morning Joe” agreed with Joe Scarborough’s criticism of DeSantis’ decision. Scarborough accused DeSantis of using innocent people as political pawns and repeatedly described it as “human trafficking. “I think, Joe, you have laid out the craziness of the time in which we’re living where some politicians would rather not only have an issue but exacerbate it to the extent of literally human trafficking, as you said,” Clinton stated.
“So many other Americans — I happen to believe still the majority of Americans — are good-hearted and generous and when people end up on their doorstep in need, they’re going to respond. They’ll feed them and house them and the kids in the AP Spanish class will be let out of high school so they can go and translate. That’s the kind of American spirit that we try to celebrate at the Clinton Global Initiative.”
Clinton continued, “Nobody wants open borders who has any idea of how government and countries work. But nobody wants inhumane, terrible treatment of human beings either. What we should have been doing is to come together to reform change and better fund the system by which we deal with these issues. But some people, like [Gov. Greg Abbott] of Texas, would rather have an issue than be part of a solution.”
“What happens? The doors of the churches fly open. The doors of the community halls fly open, and the people of Martha’s Vineyard are so grateful to be able to lend a helping hand,” Scarborough told Clinton, and added that he knew she enjoyed the luxurious enclave “very much.”
According to conservatives, media coverage and Democrats’ alarm at the situation demonstrate their hypocrisy in failing to deal with the steady influx of illegal immigrants at the southern border, which has been overwhelming American cities there. According to DeSantis, the panic reveals that their “virtue-signaling is a fraud.”
Both Abbott and DeSantis will run for re-election this year. Many Americans are hoping DeSantis runs for president one day.