Now that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has almost succeeded in his own version of political self-immolation with his ignorant stunt that sent nearly 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, we get news that the people who were treated like human guinea pigs have filed a class action against the governor.
The lawsuit accuses DeSantis and others who participated in the scheme of concocting and carrying out a conspiracy to falsely imprison them for his own advancement.
The civil lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts Tuesday and it names DeSantis and Jared Perdue, head of the Florida Department of Transportation, as defendants.
These immigrants, who are pursuing the proper channels for lawful immigration status in the United States, experienced cruelty akin to what they fled in their home country. Defendants manipulated them, stripped them of their dignity, deprived them of their liberty, bodily autonomy, due process, and equal protection under law, and impermissibly interfered with the Federal Government’s exclusive control over immigration in furtherance of an unlawful goal and a personal political agenda.”
The 35-page filing includes other accusations, charging that DeSantis and the other defendants engaged “false imprisonment” of each migrant and inflicted “emotional distress” on them:
The Plaintiffs had relied on the Defendants’ promises of support and social services—basic human needs of which, as recent immigrants, they were in particularly desperate need.
When they became aware that they were transported thousands of miles away from Texas, where they need to continue with their federal immigration proceedings, without any of the support from the Defendants, they became emotionally traumatized.
[…]
Defendants negligently inflicted emotional distress on the individual Plaintiffs through their actions described throughout this complaint. This negligent infliction of emotional distress caused the Plaintiffs dignitary harms and physical manifestations of harm requiring mental health counseling and support.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorneys fees and court costs.
DeSantis also got other bad legal news, this time from Texas, where a sheriff is also investigating the governor for his actions:
A Texas sheriff said Monday he has opened a criminal investigation of two chartered flights that transported 48 migrants from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard last week.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Monday that his office is looking into the matter to determine if any laws were broken.
Clearly, DeSantis didn’t think through all of the possible repercussions of his actions before he paid to put those migrants on an airplane. That alone suggests the governor needs to be defeated in November and rejected if and when he decides to seek the GOP nomination two years from now.
