Statement on Martha’s Vineyard Case

Lawyers for Civil Rights releases statement responding to the motions presented by Governor DeSantis and his co-defendants in the federal class action filed by Alianza Americas and the migrants who were fraudulently induced to travel by plane to Martha’s Vineyard. 

The bottom line is that Governor DeSantis doesn’t want to be hauled into a Massachusetts court, but he surely hauled distressed migrants to Martha’s Vineyard without compunction. Governor DeSantis essentially pretends that Perla Huerta, a former spy, was running around plotting on her own. But she was not alone. It is not surprising that Governor DeSantis and his co-defendants are throwing up every procedural argument they can think of, in a desperate attempt to avoid facing the music for this callous political stunt. As outlined in our complaint, the defendants hatched and executed a shameful plan to induce vulnerable Latinx immigrants in Texas to board privately chartered flights through false promises of jobs, shelter, and immigration assistance. We are confident in our case and look forward to proceeding towards trial. Using human beings as political props is both morally repugnant and illegal.

The case is Alianza Americas et al. v. DeSantis et al., No. 22-CV-11550 (D. Mass.). It is pending before U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs in Boston, MA.