SACRAMENTO -- Asylum-seekers transported from Texas to California's capital city of Sacramento two weeks ago say they were misled by people who convinced them to travel with promises of work and shelter.
Officials with the Florida Division of Emergency Management have maintained all travel was done on a voluntary basis. A 31-year-old Colombian woman, who was on the second flight and asked not to be identified for legal reasons, told CNN she was approached by two men at a shelter in El Paso, where she had been for 20 days.
The people the migrants believed to be their guides disappeared, and the documents they signed were not returned to them, the Venezuelan told CNN. "We came to work, to earn the goodwill of many people, because many people might think that we came here to Sacramento looking for other things, not for work, not to improve our lives economically, not to be able to send money back to the little ones at home who are waiting for us."
The two migrants interviewed by CNN verified they appeared in the video, telling CNN they'd been happy to travel at the time because they'd been promised jobs and housing.Officials with the Florida Division of Emergency Management said the migrants who were flown to Sacramento did so voluntarily, countering accusations from California authorities who said the asylum-seekers were misled into taking trips.