The migrants were being moved voluntarily to Joint Base Cape Cod, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said, adding that he is activating up to 125 members of the National Guard to help the relief effort. The migrants were flown to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday, sent by Florida’s governor. Ron DeSantis in the latest in a series of moves by Republican governors to ferry migrants to liberal northern enclaves to protest what they say are inadequate federal efforts to secure the southern border. DeSantis’ move was roundly denounced by the White House, migrant advocates and Democratic officials.
At a church where migrants had been staying on Martha’s Vineyard, migrants cheered Friday morning when they heard the Massachusetts government would shelter them at a military base on Cape Cod.
They hugged each other and locals before boarding buses provided by the state and local government for their journey to the base.
A volunteer helping the migrants was among those hugging them, crying as they left.
“This was a very difficult time for another person, for several people, in their life, and they shared it with us with such grace and affection and humor. And to be welcomed into their lives and into their hearts was a gift,” Lisa. Belcastro said.
A group of civil rights lawyers working with the migrants said their stories are “heartbreaking and infuriating”. Many of the migrants went to a hospital in need of care upon their arrival on the island on Wednesday.
Some of those migrants were sent to Martha’s Vineyard even though they have scheduled immigration hearings nowhere near Massachusetts, the group said. Migrants released from government custody often move to other US cities while they go through their immigration procedures.
“This cowardly political maneuver has put our clients at risk,” the group Advocates for Civil Rights said in a press release Friday. “Some now have immigration hearings as early as Monday thousands of miles away.”
Some of the group’s lawyers accompanied the migrants on buses bound for the Cape Cod base.
Help Awaits Migrants on Cape Cod
Joint Base Cape Cod, already a designated emergency shelter by the state emergency management agency, was created to provide “safe temporary housing appropriate to the needs of families and individuals,” the the governor’s office said in a statement.
Migrants “will be housed in dormitory-style spaces at JBCC, with separate spaces to accommodate both individuals and families,” and families will not be separated, the statement said.
According to Baker’s office, they will have access to services including legal services, health care, food, hygiene kits and crisis counseling.
Baker, a Republican, praised a temporary shelter the Martha’s Vineyard community set up for migrants in “a time of urgent need.”
“We are grateful to the providers, volunteers and local officials who have stepped up on Martha’s Vineyard over the past few days to provide immediate services to these individuals,” Baker said in a news release.
The White House denounces DeSantis’ move
DeSantis’ decision to organize the flight of migrants to Massachusetts was one of two high-profile transports sent north by southern Republican governors this week. On Thursday, two busloads of migrants sent from Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott arrived outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in the nation’s capital. Texas began busing migrants to Washington this spring. Arizona’s Republican governor Doug Ducey followed suit this year, and the two states have since sent thousands of migrants to Washington. Abbott has expanded the Texas effort to include New York City and Chicago. The White House denounced this week’s moves by DeSantis and Abbott on Thursday. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused the governors of using migrants as “political pawns” and said their actions amounted to a “cruel and premeditated political ploy.” DeSantis sent the migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, though he did not yet have enough information to say whether he broke any laws in doing so, he told reporters Thursday.
Despite Wednesday’s unannounced arrivals on Martha’s Vineyard, some island residents worked quickly to provide some key services.
“Our island went into action by putting together 50 beds, giving everyone a good meal, providing a play area for children, making sure people have the health care and support they need,” the representative of the State of Massachusetts Dylan Fernandes, a Democrat representing the island. , he wrote on Twitter. “We are a community that comes together to support immigrants.” Tens of thousands of dollars were donated to help the community, Edgartown City Manager James Hagerty told CNN on Friday.
Hagerty said that overall, “the flow was tremendous” and reiterated that the island community responded to the call for help when the migrants arrived without warning earlier this week.
“Sometimes we’re lonely and unafraid here, but we understand the path of the journey and we understand that we’re a community that ultimately wants to help people,” Hagerty said.
CNN’s Maria Santana, Amy Simonson, Priscilla Alvarez and Devan Cole contributed to this report.