In 2022, the conservative governors of Florida, Texas, and Arizona began sending asylum-seekers and other undocumented immigrants to places like Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City in a bid to score points with the anti-immigration wings of their base.
Early in the year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began arranging buses that would take migrants to cities perceived to be more liberal, prompting outrage from immigrants rights advocates as well as from local officials who struggled to accommodate the sudden and unannounced arrivals. As of January 2024, his administration had relocated more than 100,000 migrants, reportedly costing taxpayers $86 million between April 2022 and October 2023.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also made headlines in September 2022 by chartering two flights of about 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. The migrants — many of whom said they felt they had been misled with promises of jobs and housing — moved into temporary housing and homeless shelters after receiving support from local nonprofits and communities. Some immigration rights advocates say the migrants could be victims of human trafficking. In May 2023, the state legislature allocated $12 million to the program transporting migrants out of state and in June the DeSantis administration flew dozens more migrants to Sacramento, Calif.
During his tenure, former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration transported more than 3,000 people to Washington, D.C.. Gov. Katie Hobbs’ administration transported more than 26,000 asylum-seekers between January and November 2023.
The relocation programs have been roundly criticized as a dehumanizing stunt meant to drum up political support. Through open records requests, American Oversight is investigating the details surrounding these efforts.
In October 2022, American Oversight obtained contract documents for DeSantis’ Sept. 14, 2022, flights to Martha’s Vineyard. The records included memos outlining flight costs, requisition and purchase order documents, and the state transportation department’s approval of advance payment to contractor Vertol Systems Company.
Other documents obtained by American Oversight and reported on by the Miami Herald revealed that DeSantis’ office appears to have been in contact with Abbott’s office about the Sept. 14 flight: At some point between Sept. 1 and Sept. 19, DeSantis’ chief of staff, James Uthmeier, shared with Abbott’s chief of staff, Luis Saenz, the contact information of Larry Keefe, DeSantis’ “public safety czar,” who Uthmeier said was the “POC here.”
Text messages released in November 2022 provided further indications that Florida officials coordinated with Texas agencies. They also showed the significant role played by Perla Huerta, who reportedly recruited the migrants, and included messages between Keefe and Vertol CEO James Montgomerie regarding the effort to recruit migrants and plans for future flights.
American Oversight also filed requests for memos, directives, communications, contracts, and other documents about the migrant transportation programs from the Florida, Texas, and Arizona governor’s offices, as well as other state agencies. We obtained more than 1,000 pages from the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs containing situation reports, passenger data, and other information, as well as a contract between the Arizona Department of Administration and a contractor tasked with executing the busing program.
Records we obtained also revealed how Florida has altered its migrant transportation contracts following widespread criticism and trafficking allegations. The documents, reported on by the Tallahassee Democrat, included contract amendments requiring the companies conducting the migrant flights to “ensure each participating individual understands and accepts that no goods or services, such as lodging accommodations, additional travel, or other arrangements will be provided” by the company at the destination. This language had not been included in previous versions of the contracts released to the public.
The amendments also state contractors must ensure migrants have been processed and released by the U.S. federal government. The Democrat interviewed an immigration expert who said this is “likely to avoid legal peril or accusations of improper behavior while still allowing DeSantis to score political points with conservative pundits and voters.”
