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Second plane with migrants lands in California capital



CNN

A private plane carrying 20 immigrants from Texas arrived in the California capital city of Sacramento on Monday morning, authorities said, the second arrival of immigrants from a conservative state to land in the city in days.

“Special agents from the California Department of Justice are on the ground and have made contact with these individuals,” said Tara Gallegos, a spokeswoman for California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

According to a statement from the attorney general’s office, the 20 migrants had documents indicating their flight involved the state of Florida.

The attorney general’s office is working to confirm details about the migrants, including their nationalities, but said the plane that brought them to California was operated by the same contractor used on a charter flight that brought the migrants to California on Friday, added.

The 16 migrants who arrived Friday also had documents purporting to be from Florida.

Those immigrants were flown from Texas to New Mexico, then flown by private plane to California, where they were “abandoned at the door of a local church without notice,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

They were originally from Colombia and Venezuela, authorities said.

Bonta previously said it was investigating the first incident and “evaluating possible criminal or civil actions against those who transported or arranged for the transport of these vulnerable immigrants.”

CNN has reached out to state officials in Texas and Florida for comment.

According to the governor, the circumstances surrounding who paid for the group’s trip and whether the migrants were deceived with false promises will be investigated.

On Monday, Newsom, a Democrat, called Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also running for president, a “pathetic little man” in a tweet on mondayapparently referring to his alleged role in the first flight.

”.@RonDeSantis pathetic little man. This is not Martha’s Vineyard. Kidnapping charges? Newsom tweeted, linking to a California penal code that says an out-of-state person who transports another person to California “by force or fraud” could be found guilty of kidnapping.

Last year, DeSantis sent two planes with migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Migrants have also been bused from border towns to sanctuary cities in recent years with little or no notice.



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