A Texas sheriff says he is launching a criminal investigation into the transport of 48 Venezuelan migrants to Martha's Vineyard last week.
As CBS Boston reported, Sheriff Javier Salazar of Bexar County, Texas, said he is looking into the case after he says the migrants were "lured under false pretenses" and had "every right to be where they were" when on Sept. 14 they were taken from San Antonio was reportedly paid a fee "to recruit approximately 50 migrants from an area around a migrant resource center."
Salazar says the migrants were taken to a hotel for a few days and then put on a shuttle bus to an airplane, where they were then flown to Florida, and then later to Martha's Vineyard.
The sheriff says the migrants were flown to Martha's Vineyard for a "video op" after being promised work and other solutions for their issues.
Massachusetts immigration attorney Rachel Self has been the primary point of contact and source of information in the opening of Salazar's investigation, he said.
NEW: Immigration attorney Rachel Self is here at St. Anthony’s Church on Martha’s Vineyard and has been interviewing Venezuelan migrants about how they got here. She calls the entire ordeal “kidnapping.” #WBZ pic.twitter.com/Rs5NfI49WP
— Kristina Rex (@KristinaRex) September 15, 2022
