The plane arrived on Monday morning, said Tara Gallegos, a spokeswoman for California Attorney General Rob Bonta. It follows the arrival of 16 migrants from Venezuela and Colombia on Friday.
Spokespeople for the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis have not confirmed Florida's involvement.SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Florida appears to have arranged for a group of South American migrants to be transported from Texas to California and dropped off in Sacramento, California's attorney general said, noting that he's looking into whether any crimes may have been committed.
The migrants entered the U.S. through Texas. Eddie Carmona, campaign director at PICO California, a faith-based group that helps migrants, said U.S. immigration officials had already processed the young women and men and given them court dates for their asylum cases when “individuals representing a private contractor” approached them outside a migrant center in El Paso, Texas, and offered to help them get jobs and get them to their final destinations.
The migrants were transported from Texas to New Mexico and then flown by charter plane to California’s capital, where they were dropped off in front of the diocese's headquarters, California officials said. DeSantis has made the migrant relocation program one of his signature political priorities, using the state legislative process to direct millions of dollars to it.