George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley took a stab at President Joe Biden’s handling of the migrant crisis Monday as liberals compare Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ relocation of migrants to “human trafficking.”
Turley objected to several claims made by Democratic and liberal politicians that DeSantis should be charged for kidnapping after sending two planes of 50 migrants who voluntarily traveled to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, late Thursday. He said on “America Reports” that there would have to be evidence of coercion or fraud to charge the Florida governor.
“There are rational reasons why someone would want to leave the border area which just has this influx of undocumented migrants and go to areas that might have better employment possibilities or better levels of support,” Turley said. “And what they’re arguing here is that this is an illegal transport of migrants, if that was the case, then Joe Biden would be the biggest coyote ever. Right? I mean, he’s transferred thousands of people across the country, also public interest organizations transfer migrants. All of them are saying, as they need to and need to establish, that this is done with their consent.”
Authorities in Massachusetts have requested that the Department of Justice (DOJ) open a federal human trafficking probe to “hold DeSantis and others accountable” for what they called “inhuman acts,” USA Today reported. DeSantis’ opponent, Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, called on the DOJ to investigate the matter, Business Insider reported.
The governor’s office said the transport of migrants is part of a $12 million Florida program to relocate illegal immigrants to Democratic-led cities. DeSantis confirmed at a Friday news conference that the migrants voluntarily boarded the planes en route to Massachusetts. (RELATED: CNN Host & Ken Burns Compare DeSantis Sending Migrants To Martha’s Vineyard To The Holocaust)
Turley said the transportation of individuals by the federal government is a common occurrence, citing Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom transferring homeless people when he served as mayor of San Francisco.
“Once these migrants are released by the federal government into the country, they have the right to go anywhere they want and therefore groups, like public interest groups, or states can assist them with their consent,” Turley continued.
The segment played footage of when former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton told the “Morning Joe” panel Friday that Republican governors are participating in “human trafficking” migrants rather than finding a solution to the issue. Turley then pushed back against the idea that the relocation of migrants is “human trafficking” since the migrants consented to the journey. He said this is a political, not a criminal, matter and must be handled as such.