MIAMI — Two members of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration are among new defendants named in a class-action lawsuit filed against the governor over the plan to fly 49 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard earlier this year.
In an amended complaint filed Tuesday morning, attorneys with the Lawyers for Civil Rights accused DeSantis’ Chief of Staff James Uthmeier and the governor’s “public safety czar” Larry Keefe of working together with others to “deceive” migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard. DeSantis, Florida Transportation Secretary James Perdue and the Florida Department of Transportation are also being sued.
Others now named in the lawsuit include Perla Huerta, who is identified in the lawsuit as the “lead recruiter” of the 49 migrants who were flown to Massachusetts, and James Montgomerie, the president of Vertol Systems Company, the company contracted by Florida to relocate the migrants. Vertol Systems Company is also named as a defendant.
