An appeals court Friday scheduled arguments on April 9 in a lawsuit alleging the Florida Department of Transportation and a contractor did not fully comply with public records requests about controversial state-funded flights of migrants to Massachusetts.
Last year, the Florida Center for Government Accountability went to the 1st District Court of Appeal after Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey dismissed the lawsuit.
The center contended in the lawsuit that the Department of Transportation and the contractor, Vertol Systems Company, Inc., violated the state’s public records law by not fully providing requested documents about the September 2022 flights of 49 migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard.
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The flights, engineered by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, have drawn national scrutiny.
In two rulings, Dempsey concluded that the center did not prove the department and Vertol withheld documents.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent a plane with undocumented immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard in September of 2022.
DeSantis’ office said the flights were part of the state’s “relocation program” that intends to send migrants to “sanctuary destinations” such as New York, California, and Massachusetts.
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In a statement, Taryn Fenske, communications director for DeSantis, said, “States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden Administration’s open border policies.”
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