Minnesota Sixth District Congressman Dean Phillips (D) did not mince words when it comes to the so-called "dumping" of migrants in certain areas of the country like Martha's Vineyard on Friday.
“The antics of Governor DeSantis (R, Florida) and Abbott (R, Texas) are just despicable, and inhumane, and frankly nauseating as an American,” Phillips said.
Like lawmakers in Texas, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed through on his promise to send migrants to progressive states. The Republican governor did so with two full planes that landed in Massachusetts.
The planes landed in Martha's Vineyard late on Wednesday night. The governor's communications director, Taryn Fenske, confirmed with Fox News that they were indeed a part of DeSantis' relocation plan.
Phillips told WCCO's Chad Hartman the best way to begin meaningful immigration reform is to adjudicate asylum cases in their country of origin.
“The people coming across the border, for the most part, are following American law,” says Phillips. “Which requires that they make an arduous journey through Mexico, with their families, paying coyotes, smugglers, thousands of dollars to come to the border. Which is what you have to do to declare asylum. That's how the system works. That's why it's so damn broken.”
Phillips also says we need to fix what he calls "embarrassing" border infrastructure, and use the country's foreign aid budget to improve security in the countries where people are coming from.
The migrants were being moved voluntarily Friday to a military base on nearby Cape Cod. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker said he would activate up to 125 National Guard members to assist the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
DeSantis said Friday that most migrants intended to come to Florida and that the trip to Martha’s Vineyard was voluntary. He did not address the migrants' claims that they were told they were going elsewhere.
Florida's governor defended picking up migrants in Texas and vowed to continue transportation to immigrant-friendly “sanctuary” jurisdictions.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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