California’s Attorney General is accusing the state of Florida of flying a group of 16 migrants to California before dropping them off in front of a church in Sacramento.
In a move that harkens back to last September, when nearly 50 migrants were flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, MA, the migrants from Venezuela and Colombia flew on a chartered flight from El Paso, according to California officials.
“We’re confident it was Florida,” said Rob Bonta, California’s Attorney General.
Bonta, who has opened an investigation, says the migrants had documentation that indicated their travel had been “administered by the Florida Division of Emergency Management” and its contractor Vertol Systems.
The panhandle-based contractor is the same company the state paid $1.5 million last year to fly the migrants from Texas to Massachusetts.
Bonta says the migrants were approached in El Paso and told to sign documents to board the flights.
Bonta also says the migrants were promised jobs in California.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the migrants were left by the church “without any advance warning.”
Vertol Systems and state officials haven’t responded to requests for comment.
