SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A total of 16 Venezuelans and Colombians who crossed into the United States through Texas were sent on a chartered plane to California, where they were later dropped off outside a church in Sacramento, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and activists said Saturday. promigrants.
These young men and women were dropped off in front of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento on Friday with just a backpack of belongings each, said Eddie Carmona, campaign manager for faith-based community group PICO California that provides assistance to migrants.
The South Americans were processed by U.S. immigration agents and already had their asylum cases set to begin when “individuals representing a private contractor” accosted them outside a migrant center in El Paso, Texas, Carmona said.
Those people said they would help migrants get jobs and get them to their final destination, he added.
“They were intentionally lied to and deceived,” Carmona said, adding that the migrants had no idea where they were when they were dropped off in Sacramento.
Newsom said he and Attorney General Rob Bonta met with the group of migrants Saturday and learned they had been sent from Texas to New Mexico and then flown on a chartered jet to Sacramento.
“We are working closely with the city, local and charitable partners to ensure that these arrivals are treated with respect and dignity and reach their intended destination while pursuing their immigration cases,” the governor said in a statement. .
Newsom said he is also working with the California Department of Justice to find out who covered the cost of the group’s transportation and “whether the individuals who orchestrated this trip deceived anyone with false promises or committed any criminal offenses, such as kidnapping.”
Last year, the Republican governors of Texas and Florida went to the intense task of airmailing migrants to Democratic strongholds without warning, part of a campaign to draw attention to what they described as the administration’s failed border policies. of President Joe Biden.
