Those that supported those positions, but recoiled at the ill will towards his personality, found a new hero in De Santis, the “un Trump”, as he played the GOP playbook better than Trump, with statements and actions geared towards his base: the masking debate in public schools, the suspicions that Covid was not real, and his anti LGBTQ stance, especially when it came to public school textbooks and the push against Critical Race Theory, even though it is only taught in law and other graduate schools; but, the truth didn’t matter, because these,and other controversial positions are the bread and butter of the GOP.
He seemed like a sure winner ready to battle Trump for the nomination, until his recent transports of mostly Venezuelan asylum seekers, who had been granted permission to stay in the US, pending legal processing, to Martha's Vineyard the elite Democratic vacation spot home to the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Valerie Jarrett, and former President Barack Obama and his family, plus many others.
The pie in the face event pushed the issue of legal, and illegal migration, front and center to the Biden administration, and then Texas Governor Greg Abbott went even further by sending buses full of migrants to the home of Vice President Kamala Harris, which was duly covered by FOX TV even thought there was no notice to Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
A sticking point in the story is that the migrants were in Texas, not Florida, and took a circuitous route to South Carolina, and then to the Vineyard.
In both instances, local governments and authorities, especially those on the vacation island scrambled to feed, clothe, and house these refugees and migrants, many of who came with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, as they escaped from the economic, and political perils of living in Venezuela, many earning less than the US equivalent of $20.00, per month, plus gang violence fueling fears, and the willingness to undertake a tortuous journey, much of it on foot to reach the American border.
Clearly branded as a political stunt, these actions are beginning to hurt the perfect pitch of De Santis, and his efforts to be a presidential candidate. And, while the moral outrage from many liberal circles has been countered by the applause of his supporters, his image is being tattered by those who think that he has gone too far..
There is life outside of talking points, and a pending lawsuit by some of the migrants that they were duped with false information, by a shadowy women named “Perla” who lured the migrants with the promise of jobs, and housing and a mostly false brochure outlining benefits in Massachusetts (written in Florida) is angering many, especially independent voters who might be the linchpin in De SaIntis efforts, even as he tag teams with Abbott, in an enterprise that shows hubris to some, and cockiness to others.
Ready technology, much of it pocket sized, has sent the images of the displaced far beyond the intentions of Abbott and De Santis.
A bit of bragging never hurt: “All the people in D.C. and New York were beating their chest when Trump was president, saying they were so proud to be sanctuary jurisdictions, De Santis told a group in the Florida Panhandle, and “The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns day with every day are brought to their front door, they all go berserk.”
There is a grain of truth in his statement, but using part of a $12 million war chest of taxpayer money might not go down as well as he expects, despite questions about what exactly a sitting governor might be charged with, the lawsuit notwithstanding.
What remains unclear is that only $615,000 was used, but this was a claim by his Democratic rival Charlie Crist, and yet from others that the amount may be interest of the $5.8 billion dollars given to Florida as part of the American Rescue Plan.
Recent reports have said that $1.6 million dollars was given to a contractor, possibly the private air carrier, or others, but some reports have indicated that the $615.00 was given to the carrier, as partial payment, and there is the amount of $950.00, which came from a public records, with some speculation that this was another payment to the same carrier, but questions remain if these are shell companies, to hide the true identities of the recipients.
It is known that Vetrol was a political donor to the Republican Party.
The New York Times reported that some in Latin America “have accused Mr. De Santis and Mr. Abbott of being largely out of touch with the crisis on the ground in Venezuela,” and even hypocrisy toward their criticisms of the Maduro government.
The Biden administration has struggled, internally, as we have learned, with how to handle the increase in immigration at the border and the mess that was inherited from Trump whose detention of migrant children, and whose videotaped tears, filled nightly news segments; with some saying that internal dissension has contributed to a fractured response to the burgeniung numbers at the Southern border.
When arriving Haitians, escaping violent gangs, were seen being whipped by Texas border guards, all viewers were appalled. Coupled with the welcome of the Afghanistan refugees, and its comparatively smooth entry, after the US withdrawal, accusations of racism abounded, making many observers question what would be a consistent, even moral response from the Administration.
Chiming in was President Andreas Manuel Lopez Labrador of Mexico who criticized Abbott's authorization of the Texas National Guard to detain migrants, and he noted, “Since there are elections in November, then they’re looking for sensationalism, for scandal,” and that such actions were “immoral.”
For Venezuela the “shattering of the economic, social and democratic crisis” has been branded the worst by economists, resulting in 6.8 million Venezuelans, “more than a fifth of the population have left the country . . .” noted the Times.⁹
Equally troubling is that the United States has struggled with immigration for decades, especially a large influx of Eastern and Southern Europeans after World War I, and after World War II it created an asylum process for those fearing prosecution of race, religion and nationality; and, problematic are those that have filed false claims, knowing that the process can take years.
Title 8 from the Biden administration has drilled down on those that are filing false statements and can deport them, is not as well known as the fears of job loss by Americans, and the racial bias that underlies many of these self same fears.
Legality, including actions by the San Antonio Sheriff Javier Salazar bring moral outrage, but even then we have to return to actionable offenses.
There are also appeals to the US Department of Justice, as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has “encouraged Garland to investigate where the false hopes, and inducements “would support charges of kidnapping under relevant state laws,” and could lead also to charges of racketeering, reported The Hill, and, he has been joined in this by Massachusetts Attorney General Rachel Rollins.
This will be an ongoing struggle and one that might garner headlines, while even more migrants arrive in even more Democratic strongholds.
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