Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Haitian migrants: ‘Their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard’

On Tuesday, DeSantis talked to Loesch about what Florida is doing to prevent migrants from arriving there illegally.

“Since January of 2023, the state of Florida has interdicted 660 vessels and repelled over 13,000 illegal aliens,” DeSantis said. “And that’s just the state of Florida’s vessels. The Coast Guard has been doing it as well.”

DeSantis said it’s “very important to interdict those vessels before they make landfall” because they can be turned away at sea.

“The problem when you get to a situation like Florida is, if you have people in our state and we want to fly them, say, back to Haiti, you have to get clearance to be able to do that,” DeSantis said. “If you want to fly somebody to a South American country, wherever they’re from, it becomes a little bit more difficult because the federal government’s going to tell the host countries not to accept our plane.”

Stopping migrants who cross borders illegally on land is much different from intercepting them on the water, he said.

“It’s a little bit different for a maritime state like us,” DeSantis said. “We really have to get them before they reach the shores, and that’s why we’re working so hard to do that. Although I will say this: We do have our transport program also that’s going to be operational. So Haitians land in the Florida Keys, their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard.”

Loesch then asked DeSantis if he had any immediate plans to send migrants to the Vineyard.

“I was just going to ask you about that, Governor, if you have any more excursions planned from the great state of Florida up to maybe Martha’s Vineyard or maybe Maryland or maybe any of these other sanctuary cities or states that love to practice the virtue signaling of sanctuary but they want Florida and Texas and everybody else to pay for it?” Loesch asked.

“Well, hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” DeSantis replied. “But I think that we’re going to be ready.”

On Sept. 14, 2022, charter planes landed at Martha’s Vineyard Airport, bringing 49 migrants to the island and thrusting Massachusetts into the national debate over immigration.

At the time, Massachusetts state Senator Julian Cyr described the move as a political stunt.

“This is a cruel ruse that manipulates vulnerable families for seeking a better life, and I think that capitalizing on migrant families who are in the most difficult of circumstances for a gotcha moment and a political stunt is disgusting,” Cyr said.

Two days later, the migrants were moved to a temporary shelter at Joint Base Cape Cod in Bourne, where they stayed for a couple of weeks.

In early October, the migrants were told they would be leaving the base and sent to various shelters, state homes, and host families.

By November, 47 of the migrants had found housing in Massachusetts — in Lowell, Brockton, Stoughton, Provincetown, and other towns on Cape Cod. Four had returned to the Vineyard.

On Wednesday, Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, cochair of the House Haiti Caucus, condemned DeSantis’s comments.

“That DeSantis would continue exploiting vulnerable families is unconscionable but unsurprising from a failed presidential candidate seeking to stay relevant,” Pressley said in a statement. “Families fleeing unspeakable violence in Haiti and other countries deserve to be met with compassion — not to be used as pawns in Republicans’ cruel political games.”

Earlier this week, Pressley urged the Biden administration to redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status and pause deportation flights to Haiti until conditions improve there.

“It is far past time to take federal action to stabilize Haiti and save lives,” Pressley said.

Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report.

Emily Sweeney can be reached at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her @emilysweeney and on Instagram @emilysweeney22.