A Telemundo reporter appearing on MSNBC threw cold water on the narrative that has been heavily pushed by the mainstream media, claiming that the illegal immigrants who were transported by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., are angry and hurt by his actions.
Democrats across the country have been arguing that the governor, along with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, is mistreating the immigrants. California Gov. Gavin Newsom even floated the idea that DeSantis should be federally investigated for alleged kidnapping.
However, in an interview at the island enclave, Telemundo reporter Christina Londoño told MSNBC anchor Jose Diaz-Balart that initially the migrants on the plane did not know what or where Martha’s Vineyard was but some were appreciative of the relocation.
“Some thought they had just landed in New York or somewhere [else] – They didn’t know this was an island,” Londoño said, adding that the group has reportedly since been moved to an air base near Cape Cod, Mass., and been given new clothes, cell phones and the ability to speak with attorneys.
Some even said that they felt they had been “brought to paradise,” in the reporter’s words.
Londoño asked if they felt “hurt” by relocation to Martha’s Vineyard, to which one man responded, “No, not really.”
“Instead of hurting us, they did us a favor, so I’m not complaining,” he said.
One woman told Londoño how she first arrived in Dukes County, Mass., saying people told them to go to a hotel, where they later “got in a truck, [went] to the airport, and they took us here.”
However, a group of men who were reportedly from Venezuela did object to one characterization from the right of their journey to the U.S.
“We didn’t cross irregularly,” one of the men said, claiming he and others formally presented themselves to border officials for asylum, showing Londoño purported immigration documentation.
The reporter noted that many Massachusetts locals and activists are up in arms at DeSantis and Abbott, but followed up by stating that many migrants don’t feel the same way.
“I can tell you they are not angry at Ron DeSantis, they are actually thanking him for having brought them to Martha’s Vineyard, where they were very well-received,” she told Diaz-Balart, the brother of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL).
“But other people, they’re saying they’re being used as political pawns – they don’t resent it for now, and they know they’re the lucky ones.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) vented her frustrations with DeSantis, accusing him of “exploiting vulnerable people for political stunts.”
However, when Warren posited that the Bay State is “fully capable of handling asylum seekers,” OutKick founder Clay Travis argued that, were that true, the state should be the recipient of many more flights.
“Why not send every single illegal immigrant right now to Massachusetts so that Elizabeth Warren can make sure that this ‘repulsive and cruel system’ is taken care of?” he said Thursday.
Martha’s Vineyard is just the latest in a string of prominent and majority liberal cities who have received illegal immigrants from the border, often to much derision and anger towards Abbott and DeSantis.
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