Immigration

Illegal migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard on ‘voluntary basis’ and ‘signed wavers’ file lawsuit against DeSantis, others

Published

1 week ago

September 21, 2022

A group of illegal immigrants that were flown to Martha’s Vineyard last week have come together to file a federal class-action complaint against Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, and others on Tuesday.

The plaintiffs claim they were duped into taking the flight under false pretenses and suffered harm that “at a minimum exceeds $75,000.” The Washington Examiner reports that “DeSantis’s office shrugged off the suit as ‘opportunistic’ and countered that the flights to Martha’s Vineyard were done on a ‘voluntary basis’ to give ‘homeless, hungry, and abandoned’ immigrants a ‘fresh start in a sanctuary state.”

The class-action complaint says, “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.”

“Destitute, stranded, and immensely vulnerable, the individual Plaintiffs and class members were faced with an uncertain situation in an unfamiliar location. They were left in the dark, with nothing, on a tarmac on an island,” the suit continues.

In a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner, DeSantis’ office wrote:

“It is opportunistic that activists would use illegal immigrants for political theater. If these activists spent even a fraction of this time and effort at the border, perhaps some accountability would be brought to the Biden Administration’s reckless border policies that entice illegal immigrants to make dangerous and often lethal journeys.”

“It was disappointing that Martha’s Vineyard called in the Massachusetts National Guard to bus them away from the island within 48 hours,” the statement added.

DeSantis has also insisted the traveling migrants were given a packet of information and signed consent forms. “Millions of people since Biden has been president illegally coming across the southern border. Did they freak out about that? No,” DeSantis told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “It’s only when 50 get put into Martha’s Vineyard, which wasn’t saying they didn’t want this. … They said they were a sanctuary jurisdiction.”

Immigration

IG Audit shows nonprofit wasted $17 million taxpayer dollars on hotels to not house illegal foreign nationals

Published

3 days ago

September 27, 2022

Sara Carter Staff

An audit report by the Inspector General shows enraging information as to exactly how millions of dollars from the American people were completely wasted.

One doesn’t need to read past the IG report’s headline to become furious: “ICE Spent Funds on Unused Beds, Missed COVID-19 Protocols and Detention Standards while Housing Migrant Families in Hotels.”

In summary, an unbelievable $17 million was wasted on not housing illegal foreign nationals. At the heart of the story is Endeavors, a nonprofit which has received half a billion dollars in taxpayer money “through no-bid government contracts to house foreign nationals who illegally entered the U.S. and were released by the Biden administration instead of being deported” reports The Center Square.

The audit evaluated the process used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to grant no bid contracts to Endeavors and their compliance with federal law, the article explains.

The report evaluated an $86.9 million sole source contract first awarded to Endeavors earlier this year. The contract was awarded for six months to provide “temporary shelter and processing services for families who have not been expelled and are therefore placed in immigration proceedings for their removal from the United States,” The Center Square previously reported.

Months after it received its first no bid contract, Endeavors received a second $530 million contract and hired former Biden administration official Andrew Lorenzen-Straight as its senior director for migrant services and federal affairs, Axios reported.

The Center Square explains:

Sole source contracts are used when an agency can demonstrate the contract meets specific and justified criteria. If contracts don’t meet one of the criteria, they must be awarded through an open competitive process.

Endeavors has no professional history of providing housing services and has never provided beds or all-inclusive emergency family residential services, OIG auditors found. Those critical of DHS’ contract process argue the agency should be awarding contracts through an open competitive process to ensure that those bidding for funds can offer the services they claim they can provide.

Under the contract in question, for six months between March and September 2021, Endeavors was responsible for providing 1,239 beds and other necessary services in hotels. It used six hotels and repurposed them as Emergency Family Reception Sites to accommodate families staying less than three days while ICE considered conditions of release, including alternatives to detention.

The IOG made four recommendations for ICE to improve its contracting and oversight of hotel facility management and operations. “ICE concurred with one recommendation and didn’t concur with three. Based on information ICE provided in its response, the IOG said it considered one recommendation resolved and closed, and three recommendations administratively closed.”