Martha’s Vineyard: just the name conjures up visions of wealth and privilege. Lady Gaga, Meg Ryan, Michael J. Fox, Spike Lee, David Letterman, Carly Simon, James Taylor and Mike Nichols Diane Sawyer are some of the celebrities associated with the notoriously hard-to-get-to island. Among politicians, of course Martha’s Vineyard was the Kennedy dynasty’s special summer place. It’s where John Jr. was flying to when his plane crashed. Jackie Kennedy’s house went on the market for a cool 65 M just two years ago.
Today, the population of Martha’s Vineyard has 50 more residents than yesterday. Uninvited guests that have arrived unannounced at the little airport of the island, sent first from Texas to Florida, where Governor Ron De Santis then had them flown to the liberal Martha’s Vineyard as a big surprise to the liberals. This is part of the new tactics by GOP governors like Greg Abbott and De Santis, to stick it to the “sanctuary cities” that are sympathetic to immigration.
A few weeks ago, GOP strongholds like Texas were sending buses to New York city and Washington, now it’s Martha’s Vineyard.
Migrants said they had started the day in San Antonio, but it was the Florida governor’s office that took responsibility. Taryn M. Fenske, the communications director for Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, said the two flights were part of a state program to transport undocumented immigrants to so-called sanctuary destinations. This year the Florida Legislature set aside $12 million for the transportation program.
“States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who [sic] they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies,” Ms. Fenske said in a statement.
The people of Martha’s Vineyard “moved heaven and earth” to set up a response team on such short notice. Terry MacCormack, the press secretary for Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, said in a statement that his administration was in communication with local island officials, who were providing “short-term shelter services” to the migrants.
The migrants appear to mostly be from Venezuela, State Representative Dylan Fernandes said. They received basic relief services at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services in Oak Bluffs before being taken across the street to the regional high school and eventually to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown, a former whaling town that is the most manicured on the island.
One of the migrants, who asked to be identified only as Leonel, said in Spanish that the people of Martha’s Vineyard were generous and that he “had never seen anything like it.” They gave him a pair of shoes. “I haven’t slept well in three months,” said Leonel, who does not have any relatives or friends in the United States. “It’s been three months since I put on a new pair of pants. Or shoes.” Now he has the residents of Martha’s Vineyard for having them.
