DeSantis administration documents raise more questions about migrant flights

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration picked a convenient time to release sought-after documents related to its anti-immigration stunt that relocated migrants from Texas to other areas of the country. And those documents — which were highly redacted — raise more questions than answers. 

On Thursday evening, around the time news was bubbling about a federal grand jury indicting former President Donald Trump, the DeSantis administration released redacted bid proposals from companies seeking to carry out DeSantis’ migrant relocation plot. The documents were released as part of a public records request filed by The Miami Herald.

But, as the Herald reported, the heavily redacted documents “offer virtually no detail” on how the companies plan to conduct their work. According to the outlet:

Since the relocation program’s inception, DeSantis and his administration have been secretive about its inner workings and have refused to publicly disclose many aspects of its covert operation. The documents released on Thursday are a continuation of the lack of transparency surrounding the program. For instance, the proposal ARS Global Emergency Management submitted to the Division of Emergency Management for consideration, was heavily redacted. Among the sections that have been shielded from the public are the company’s experience, its references, how it plans to carry out the work, details about how reliable it would be and how it would provide “customer service” to the Division of Emergency Management. Even the name of the person who submitted the proposal on behalf of the company was redacted, claiming a “trade secret” exemption.

That claim — of a purported need to protect “trade secrets” — was cited by the DeSantis administration as its reason for redacting so much of the documents. An administration official said vendors decide which portions of their proposals they consider to be “confidential, proprietary, trade secret, or otherwise not subject to disclosure” pursuant to Florida’s public records laws,” reported the Herald.

How convenient for the DeSantis administration that public records law allows for such redactions, especially given all the backlash to his cruel stunt.

Lacking their own southern border with Mexico, the DeSantis administration and Florida Republicans authorized the use of state funds to pay for charter flights relocating migrants from Texas to Massachusetts and California.

Last week, Sheriff Javier Salazar of Texas’ Bexar County filed criminal charges, alleging unlawful restraint as part of his office’s investigation into the DeSantis administration’s migrant stunt. His office, which has not publicly named any individual suspects in the case, alleged that migrants were lured onto the planes under false pretenses.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, floated the possibility of kidnapping charges for those involved with DeSantis’ stunt in a tweet last week calling his Republican counterpart a “small, pathetic man.”

DeSantis on Wednesday framed the flights as a punishment for states like California, which he claims have “incentivized” undocumented immigration. (Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, also a Republican, has used a similar line in explaining his migrant bus stunt.)

The Florida governor — whose state’s economy relies heavily on undocumented immigrants — evidently enjoys using the flights as a cruel cudgel to beat Democrats. But last week’s quiet and meager release of information about the program suggests there could be plenty more details he and his administration don’t want the public to know about.