A total of 36 migrants were driven from Texas to New Mexico where they were then transported on private charter flights to California on June 2 and June 5, Eddie Carmona, director of campaigns with the non-profit PICO California, told CNN. Most of the migrants, two of whom CNN spoke to, are from Venezuela and Colombia, while a few are from Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Members of the first group told authorities they were told to sign documents before they could board the plane to Sacramento, according to Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta. However, not all the migrants – who are not fluent in English – understood where they were headed and not all signed the forms, she said.
The people who approached them never identified themselves or said who they were and only made promises, the migrants told CNN. The Venezuelan migrant said the people told him the help “came from Florida” but didn’t elaborate. “He was supposed to hand us over to other people who would take us directly to where we were going to stay. And from there, to work. That’s why we came here, to work,” he added.
The Colombian woman who spoke to CNN said she endured the strenuous journey to the US because she wants to provide for her family, and agreed to go to California because she was promised work. It took her two months to travel from Colombia to the US-Mexico border. “Florida’s voluntary relocation is precisely that – voluntary,” Florida Division of Emergency Management spokesperson Alecia Collins said in a statement on June 6. “Through verbal and written consent, these volunteers indicated they wanted to go to California. A contractor was present and ensured they made it safely to a 3rd-party . The specific NGO, Catholic Charities, is used and funded by the federal government.