MIAMI — A federal judge in Boston has ruled that migrants flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022 can proceed with a lawsuit against the Florida company that took them there.
The judge also dismissed claims against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials named in the suit.
Three migrants from Venezuela, along with an immigrant rights group, filed the lawsuit. They say that Florida’s governor, others in his administration and an air transport company conspired to mislead them and deprive them of their civil rights when they recruited and flew them to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022.
In their lawsuit, the migrants, identified as Yanet, Pablo and Jesus say they were told they were going to Massachusetts, but didn’t know their final destination was Martha’s Vineyard until shortly before landing.
The plaintiffs say a videographer hired by the DeSantis administration recorded them arriving and boarding vans. But apart from the videographer and van drivers, the plaintiffs say no one else in Martha’s Vineyard had any advance notice of their arrival.
https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?embed=true&id=24528047-marthas-vineyard-