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Florida Dem sues Gov. DeSantis for flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard after HE voted to approve funds

September 23, 2022 | | Print Article

A disgruntled Florida state Democrat has joined the legal effort to punish Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for committing the apparently grave crime of flying illegal aliens to the wealthy, upscale liberal enclave known as Martha’s Vineyard.

Filed this Thursday by Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo, the latest suit against DeSantis alleges that the flying of illegals to Martha’s Vineyard violates a state law and demands that a judge immediately put a halt to the flights, according to the Miami Herald.

Unlike the suit filed by the Soros-funded, left-wing activist group Alianza Americas, this one appears to have teeth.

At issue is a budget passed earlier this year by the Florida Legislature that included $12 million in funding for a program to facilitate “the transport of unauthorized aliens from this state consistent with federal law.”

The key words there were “unauthorized aliens from this state.”

The problem is that, one, the illegals that DeSantis flew to Martha’s Vineyard were actually plucked from San Antonio, and so technically, the governor’s flights are in violation of this provision, or so Pizzo’s suit argues.

And two, Pizzo claims the illegals weren’t actually “unauthorized aliens” but rather legal asylum seekers.

According to the state senator, DeSantis is clearly not following the letter of the law.

“This is very clear and straightforward. 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,” he told the Herald.

The Miami Herald notes that Pizzo, an attorney, intends to argue the case himself in court.

FYI, Pizzo is the same Florida Democrat who recently said that DeSantis’ allegedly “cruel and unhappy” behavior may be a result of Asperger’s Syndrome, i.e., high-functioning autism.

For the record, DeSantis doesn’t suffer from Asperger’s. Nor is Asperger’s associated with cruelty and unhappiness.

As for Pizzo’s suit, it also names Florida Department of Financial Services CFO Jimmy Patronis, Florida Department of Transportation secretary Jared Perdue, and the FDOT itself.

DeSantis’ office has, for its part, dismissed the suit as a publicity stunt.

“Senator Pizzo never misses an opportunity for his 15 minutes of fame and is challenging an action on an appropriation he voted for,” the governor’s communications director, Taryn Fenske, wrote to the Herald.

According to the Herald, it’s true that Pizzo voted for the budget.

This point was also noted in a written statement by Florida Department of Financial Services communications director Devin Galletta.

“Senator Pizzo, along with Minority Leader Lauren Book, voted for the $12 million appropriation to relocate migrants. Now that the law that they voted for is being implemented, and shedding light on the border crisis, Pizzo and Book have gone to their same old handbook, and hired a Democratic operative attorney to go after the executive branch for following the law. We are in receipt of the filing and we are currently exploring options for sanction and/or countersuit measures,” he wrote.

This is the second suit to be filed against DeSantis. As previously reported, the left-wing activist group Alianza Americas already filed another suit earlier this week ostensibly on behalf of the illegal aliens who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard.

“Plaintiffs, and the class of similarly situated individuals they seek to represent, are vulnerable in a way and to an extent that almost defies verbal description. They are as deserving of dignity and empathy as anyone among us,” the suit reads.

“In or around September 2022, Defendants and their unidentified accomplices designed and executed a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme centered on exploiting this vulnerability for the sole purpose of advancing their own personal, financial and political interests.”

DeSantis has defended the flights on the basis that the illegals are far better off now than they were previously.

San Antonio is in Bexar County, and as noted below by Fenske, 53 dead illegal aliens were recently found in an abandoned truck in the county:

“The death toll of migrants who died after they were abandoned in the back of a tractor-trailer that was discovered Monday in San Antonio rose to 53 on Wednesday, according to the Bexar County medical examiner. More than a dozen others were taken to local hospitals with heat-related injuries,” CBS News reported in late June.

“Among the dead were 40 men and 13 women, the medical examiner said. Federal law enforcement officials confirmed to CBS News Homeland Security and Justice reporter Nicole Sganga this appears to be the deadliest human smuggling case in modern U.S. history.”

Vivek Saxena
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