Editorial: Migrants flown to Sacramento are human beings, not political pawns

Migrants arrive at the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico, on May 10.(Fernando Llano / Associated Press)
BY THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD
JUNE 5, 2023 5:30 PM PT

California officials are considering filing civil and criminal charges for what they call “state-sanctioned kidnapping” against whoever is responsible for flying migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border region to Sacramento on two planes the last few days.

According to California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, the two planes carrying migrants from South America were chartered by the state of Florida, the very state whose Legislature recently passed a bill calling for prison time for anyone caught transporting undocumented immigrants. Nevertheless, these same Florida legislators have supported Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ scheme to transport migrants from anywhere in the country to liberal so-called sanctuary cities, expanding his previous program that flew migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. DeSantis has not claimed responsibility for the flights to Sacramento.

Let’s be clear — migrants are human beings, not cargo to be shipped around without regard for their humanity. Sacramento migrant aid workers said the migrants who were abandoned in front of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Sacramento on Friday had no idea what city or state they were in. The 12 men and four women from Venezuela and Colombia said they had been approached at a migrant center in El Paso and told that they would be taken to a place where they could get jobs and services. They were then driven about 100 miles to Deming, N.M., where they boarded flights that arrived in Sacramento. A second flight of 20 migrants arrived at a Sacramento airport from New Mexico on Monday morning.

When migrants arrive at the border, they are typically processed by immigration authorities who assign them a court date. Moving people across the country, without regard to their ability to get to their court hearings, is likely to jeopardize their immigration cases.

More:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-06-05/migrants-sacramento-flown