Bexar County sheriff certifies that migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard are crime victims, clearing path for special visas

Venezuelan migrants stand outside St. Andrew’s Church in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, on Sept. 14, 2022. (Credit: Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette/Handout via REUTERS)

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar on Thursday certified that 49 migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last month were victims of a crime. The move clears a pathway for those migrants to get a special visa to stay in the country that they otherwise would not have received.

Rachel Self, a Massachusetts attorney working with the migrants, told radio station WGBH that the move by Salazar is a key part of the migrants’ applications for a “U visa,” which is reserved for victims of crime or people who witnessed a crime. In a statement, Salazar said his office had submitted documents with the federal system “to ensure the migrants’ availability as witnesses during the investigation.”