BOSTON – A planeload of migrants rumored to be coming to Nantucket this week looks nothing like the incident on Martha’s Vineyard last month.
Nantucket police reported on Monday that they spoke directly with the charter company, which confirmed that Tuesday’s scheduled flight to the Massachusetts island “will carry officials from the investment company.”
“We believe this information to be credible,” police said in a statement.
The flight update comes after Nantucket police issued a warning over the weekend about a flight similar to last month’s flight and incident on Martha’s Vineyard — after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent dozens of migrants out to sea from Texas. State island.
On Friday, Nantucket Police Central Dispatch received a call from Nantucket Memorial Airport Operations about a flight scheduled to land on Tuesday.
“The purpose of the call was to inform the Nantucket Police Department that the reported flight had many similarities to the flight and incident at Martha’s Vineyard,” Nantucket police said in an earlier alert.
“When a plane carrying refugees arrives, the Nantucket Police Department and many other city departments have a detailed plan to handle such a situation,” police said.
Last month, 49 Venezuelan refugees were transported from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard on DeSantis’ orders, shocking the island community.
After local residents and groups stepped up to help the refugees, they were taken to Joint Base Cape Cod, a barracks that was better equipped to provide housing, food and basic needs. The state’s temporary shelter operation ended over the weekend as transitional housing opportunities ran out.
The refugees were brought to the San Antonio shelter and offered housing, job search assistance and a plane ride to Boston. They were tricked into boarding the plane and crossing state lines under false pretenses, officials and activists said.
DeSantis said the flights to Martha’s Vineyard, paid for in Florida, were part of an effort to “transport illegal immigrants to sanctuaries.”
A Texas sheriff’s office has launched an investigation into how the migrants were tricked onto the plane, and civil rights lawyers have filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis.
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