Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made waves in September for a costly (and legally questionable) anti-immigrant stunt that saw nearly 50 migrants flown from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. DeSantis and other Florida officials have defended the flights on two main grounds: first, as an opportunity to expose liberal hypocrisy, and second, as a step in "protecting the people of the state of Florida."
The liberal hypocrisy didn't quite materialize; Martha's Vineyard residents quickly volunteered as translators, coordinated shelter, and prepared food for the migrants before they continued on to other destinations. The claim about protecting Floridians also rested on shaky ground. The flights targeted migrants who weren't even in Florida to begin with. (DeSantis claimed that "most of them [were] intending to come to Florida.")
