‘Political Props’: Newsom Urges Garland To Investigate Republicans’ ‘Shipping’ Of Migrants To Democratic Cities

‘Political Props’: Newsom Urges Garland To Investigate Republicans’ ‘Shipping’ Of Migrants To Democratic Cities

Jennie Taer on September 15, 2022

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Republican governors’ efforts to ship illegal migrants to other cities for alleged kidnapping and civil rights violations in a letter Thursday letter.

“Like millions of Americans, I have been horrified at the images of migrants being shipped on buses and planes across the country to be used as political props,” Newsom wrote in his letter to Garland. “Clearly, transporting families, including children, across state lines under false pretenses is morally reprehensible, but it may also be illegal.”

Republican Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida have been sending illegal migrants by buses and planes, respectively, facing backlash from the leaders in their destinations of Democratically-run cities that include Martha’s Vineyard, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Newsom explained that some of the illegal migrants were allegedly lured onto some of the transports by people who were making false promises. Illegal migrants that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis transported told The Boston Globe that they were told they were going to Boston before landing in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

“Several of the individuals who were transported to Martha’s Vineyard have alleged that a recruiter induced them to accept the offer of travel based on false pretenses that they would be transported to Boston and would receive expedited access to work authorization,” Newsom wrote.

What @GovRonDeSantis and @GregAbbott_TX are doing isn’t clever, it’s cruel.

I’m formally requesting the DOJ begin an immediate investigation into these inhumane efforts to use kids as political pawns. pic.twitter.com/x2sBa06nSw

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 15, 2022

Newsom also alleged that illegal migrants were targeted based on their nationality, according to the letter, writing, “The intent appears to have been to humiliate and dehumanize them.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities are on track to encounter more than 2,000,000 migrants at the southern border in fiscal year 2022, according to agency statistics.

Neither Abbott’s office nor DeSantis’ office responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

The DOJ declined to comment.