It’s becoming increasingly clear that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will have to answer for the dubious legality of his cruel stunt that dropped two state-funded planeloads of migrants on the Massachusetts resort community of Martha’s Vineyard. At the very least, he appears to have violated the boundaries of the state budgetary provision that allowed him to spend money on this travesty in the first place. But the real question is whether actual crimes were committed — including, potentially, human trafficking or kidnapping of the 48 vulnerable, impoverished souls who became pawns in the governor’s game.
They had done nothing wrong and all available evidence suggests they were in this country legally. To protect its claim to be the world’s beacon of liberty and virtue, the United States owes them justice.
That means DeSantis and other state (and potentially federal) officials must be held accountable, to the full extent of the law. We believe the best way to accomplish this is through the auspices of a federal grand jury, and call on the U.S. Justice Department to pursue that course of action quickly and with vigor. Other groups agitating for an investigation should direct their resources toward that coordinated quest for the truth.
