Migrants in San Antonio lured onto Massachusetts flights with false promises of housing and jobs – By William Melhado & Jinitzail Hernandez (Texas Tribune) and Alexander Thompson & Randy Vazquez (The Boston Globe) / Sept 16, 2022
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration orchestrated the private flights to Martha’s Vineyard, offering work and free rent. Advocates plan to pursue legal ramifications for those involved.
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While the beachside Massachusetts community of Martha’s Vineyard was buzzing with tourists this summer, 22-year-old Eduardo, his wife and their 7-year-old daughter weathered abductions and beatings by a Mexican cartel as they made the arduous journey from Peru toward the U.S.-Mexico border.
After finally reaching the United States, they applied for asylum, spent a few days in federal detention and ended up in San Antonio’s Migrant Resource Center, waiting for their application to be processed.
The large one-story building set amid strip malls on the city’s north side allows people to stay there for only three nights. So Eduardo and his family soon found themselves on the streets, without shelter. That’s when Eduardo was approached by a tall, blonde woman going by the name Perla. He said she offered his family a free trip to Boston — where she promised a job and shelter awaited them.
“When they told us that they were going to help us with the rent, to get a job, that was the only option left to us,” Eduardo said after arriving in Massachusetts this week.
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