Treasury Department investigating Ron DeSantis political stunt involving migrant flights

The US Treasury Department is probing whether Florida governor Ron DeSantis improperly used money designated for Covid-19 relief to fund flights that carried unknowing migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last month.

Politico reported on Tuesday that, according to a letter provided by Sen Ed Markey of Massachusetts, the department’s inspector general’s office is planning to probe how Mr DeSantis and Florida paid for the flights as part of a broader audit of how states used their Covid relief funds.

Richard K Delmar, deputy inspector general for the department, told Mr Markey and five members of the US House in a 7 October letter that the agency is preparing to “review the allowability” of states’ use of Covid funds “related to immigration generally, and will specifically confirm whether interest earned on (the) funds was utilized by Florida related to immigration activities, and if so, what conditions and limitations apply to such use.”

In September, Mr DeSantis chartered two planes to fly nearly 50 mostly Venezuelan migrants from San Antonio to the Massachusetts town. Migrants were reportedly tricked into agreeing to board the flights by people working with Mr DeSantis who lied to them about their final destination and falsely promised them cash, gift cards, and hotel rooms.

President Joe Biden called the flights “reckless”, and three migrants are suing Mr DeSantis and other officials, claiming that they “designed and executed a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme centered on exploiting this vulnerability for the sole purpose of advancing their own personal, financial and political interests.”

Residents of Martha’s Vineyard rallied to assist the migrants, and several groups have sued to stop Florida from facilitating more flights. The scheme also attracted the attention and ire of Massachusetts’ all-Democratic congressional delegation, which has sought more information on how Mr DeSantis set up the flights.

Florida did not directly use Covid relief funding for the flights, but state legislators earlier this year set aside $12m in interest from the aid to be used to remove “unauthorized aliens from this state.” The state then paid a company more than $1.5 million to fly migrants to other states like Massachusetts. According to Mr Delmar’s letter, the department has already sought information from Florida on its Covid relief spending in the past.

Mr Markey, who praised the Treasury Department’s “swift response” to his concern about the links between Florida’s federal Covid relief funding and the flights, had previously asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to investigate whether the flights violated Transportation Department rules by misleading passengers.

Mr DeSantis, a rumoured presidential hopeful who has used stunts like the migrant flights to attract media attention and boost his profile among Republican voters, is not the only governor whose use of Covid funding has attracted suspicion.

Gov Greg Abbott of Texas has reportedly used Covid relief money to fund similar stunts, bussing migrants from Texas to Washington, DC and other liberal northern cities. Mr Abbott, like Mr DeSantis, is running for re-election this fall. There is not currently any public timeline on when the Treasury Department’s probe into Covid relief spending will be complete.