The recent dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that the Florida Department of Transportation and a contractor did not fully comply with public-records requests related to controversial state-funded flights of illegal migrants to Martha’s Vinyard in Massachusetts has Democrats fuming.
The lawsuit was brought by the nonprofit Florida Center for Government Accountability, which claimed 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 flights of about 50 migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard.
In two similar decisions, Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey rejected the center’s lawsuit, concluding that the center did not prove the department and Vertol had withheld documents.
The dispute over the September flights, which Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration engineered, has received national scrutiny, with some Democrats and detractors of the Governor accusing him of “kidnapping” the migrants. Texas Sheriff Ed Gonzalez also announced that his agency was investigating the DeSantis administration over the 48 illegal immigrants that were flown from the border region to the Northeast U.S.
The dismissal of the lawsuit is sure to be met with mixed reactions. While some may view the dismissal as a victory for the DeSantis administration, others may point to the fact that the lawsuit has yet to be tested in front of a jury. In addition, the dismissal may not put an end to the controversy surrounding the flights, as the Texas Sheriff’s investigation is still ongoing.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether the DeSantis administration’s actions with regard to the flights will be deemed appropriate or not. Until then, the controversy surrounding the flights will continue to be a topic of debate.
