Migrants tricked into flying to Martha's Vinyard sue Ron DeSantis

Migrants flown by Ron DeSantis from Texas to Martha's Vinyard in a spectacular if hardly successful political stunt are suing him, reports NBC News, claiming they were tricked into the scheme and defrauded by it. The lawsuit follows a Texas Sheriff's own investigation of the flights, which he suggests amounted to "luring" refugees "under false pretenses."

In the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status in Massachusetts federal court, the plaintiffs allege that the "ruse" — which DeSantis claimed credit for as part of his effort to highlight illegal immigration — violated constitutional protections under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments and several federal statutes. In addition to seeking damages, they are also asking the court to block DeSantis and others named in the lawsuit from "inducing immigrants to travel across state lines by fraud and misrepresentation." The suit further argues that the money DeSantis used was unauthorized because it "originated from the federal Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and was therefore subject to its use restrictions."

Apparently DeSantis spent more than $600k on the flights: an extreme example of "owning the libs" as the exclusive purpose of public policy.