Florida senator sues Gov. DeSantis over migrant flights to Martha's Vineyard

A Florida state lawmaker is suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other officials for flying undocumented migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, claiming that the move violated the state’s law.

Democratic State Senator Jason Pizzo, who represents the Miami-Dade area, claims that DeSantis illegally used Florida funds to pay to relocate the migrants.

"This is very clear and straightforward," Pizzo said during an interview, the Miami Herald reported. "The governor had legislators carry and pass bills that were designed to suit his agenda and that he subsequently signed into law. And even with that completely privileged position, he still can’t comply with the law. He set the rules for the game and then he can’t follow them."

Florida’s legislature had previously approved $12 million in the state’s transportation budget to relocate undocumented migrants that had made their way to Florida.

Pizzo, however, claims that DeSantis is misusing the funds because he is not relocating migrants who are “unauthorized aliens” and were not in Florida.

Last week, DeSantis sent two planes with 48 Venezuelan migrants from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, a wealthy vacation island.

The DeSantis administration responded to Pizzo’s lawsuit by saying the senator is only seeking his “15 minutes of fame.”

"Senator Pizzo never misses an opportunity for his 15 minutes of fame and is challenging an action on an appropriation he voted for," said DeSantis’ communications director, Taryn Fenske.

Pizzo also names Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, The Department of Transportation, and the department’s secretary, Jared Perdue in the lawsuit.

DeSantis was also sued by three of the migrants and immigration activists claiming that DeSantis mislead migrants into boarding the flights through false promises.

The attorneys representing the case claim that the migrants were scouted outside of a migrant resource center in San Antonio and given brochures that were “highly misleading” and were “used to entice [their] clients to travel under the guide that [resettlement] support was available to them.”