A panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal will hear arguments on June 13 in a battle about whether Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration violated state law by not properly providing public records about a plan to fly migrants from Texas to Massachusetts last year.
The Tallahassee-based appeals court issued an order Monday scheduling arguments in the DeSantis administration’s appeal of a ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh.
The non-profit Florida Center for Government Accountability filed a public-records lawsuit alleging that the administration had not turned over requested records about the flights, which drew national attention after 49 migrants were flown from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Related: Florida Gov. DeSantis’ Office Rebukes Claims Migrants Sent To Martha’s Vineyard Were Misled
Marsh ruled in October that the administration did not properly comply with the state’s public records law.
The case focused, in part, on requests by the open-government group for phone or text logs that could provide information about communications by DeSantis Chief of Staff James Uthmeier related to the flights.
The group filed records requests Sept. 20 and Sept. 21 and alleged in the Oct. 10 lawsuit that the administration had not provided all of the records sought.
The short stay in Martha’s Vineyard
Readers of The Free Press may recall when the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation set up a GoFundMe for the 50 migrants sent to the island by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of his program relocating illegal migrants to sanctuary cities.
The migrants stayed on Martha’s Vineyard for about 24 hours before Massachusetts called in the national guard and relocated them to a military base on Cape Cod.
The online fundraiser, which raised more than $43,000, claimed the migrants hadn’t been informed of where they were going and were “lured” by the promise of jobs; as originally reported by Townhall.
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“Martha’s Vineyard is a community of open-hearted individuals that view these migrants as people, not political pawns,” the GoFundMe page read. “However, the island is a resort community with only 20,000 year-round residents, and it already faces a shortage of affordable housing and off-season jobs.”
“Please join me in donating to the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation, which can quickly distribute funds to the neediest organizations. This action by DeSantis is a cruel ruse that manipulates families seeking a better life—but we can help to provide support,” it said.
Although the migrants had all been relocated by Friday morning, the fundraiser is still collecting money for the groups that assisted the migrants.
The fundraiser’s organizer, Sarah Goulet, owns a New York communications company and was married on Martha’s Vineyard in 2018. Her family owns a $1.6 million home on the island, according to Townhall.
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