Thousands of unwilling undocumented immigrants redirected his states latest d. C. Busloads from Union Station to the naval observatory, which happens to be the residence of Vice President harris. That the migrants were not forced to get on these buses and planes, they were apparently asked and consented and that they were fed did not stop critics from calling the stunt inh inhumane. You might say did they know where they were going . Did they did where they were going when they first came into the country . As to the question of whether these relocations are fair, this year an estimated record 2 million undocumented migrants will cross the border seeking asylum. To date texas has sent 11,000 immigrants all of them will to new york, d. C. And chicago and arizona has sent 1800 plus to new york, new jersey and interestingly to florida. Desantis point is that its easy to declare yourself a Sanctuary State or city when youre thousands of miles from the border. U a but if you talk the talk, dont you have a heightened obligation to welcome and care for migrants. Heres how Texas Governor abbott explained it when he first transported migrants to d. C. In april. He said it would enable the administration to, quote, more immediately meet the needs of the people they are allowing to cross our border, adding that texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden Administrations failure to secure our border. Arizona and texas are, of course, border states. But why is the governor of florida getting involved . And why did he pick Marthas Vineyard . To define the word sanctuary refers to municipalities that dont allow local Law Enforcement to cooperate with federal Immigration Enforcement to shield the local community of undocumented immigrants from deportation. Besides counties and cities, there are currently 11 Sanctuary States plus d. C. And while massachusetts doesnt have a law on the books, its effectively been considered one since 2017 when the state Supreme Court ruled that someone cant be arrested on suspicion of being in the u. S. Illegally if not facing criminal charges. Supporters believe the Sanctuary Designation allows those already here to feel safer in situations like calling 911 or going to a hospital without fear that it will get them deported. Detractors believe that the Sanctuary Cities make the United States more inviting for immigrants to enter without documentation and often use the phrase to suggest that such municipalities welcome undocumented immigrants. It turns out the Desantis First voiced the idea of Revenge Shipping Migrants back in november of 2021, months before abbott. Desantis accused the Biden Administration of secretly flying migrants from the u. S. mexico border to his state in the dead of night without notice. Though some disputed the secrecy aspect, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement did provide a list revealing more than 70 flights between late april and early october believed to be organized by Hhs To Transport migrants to jacksonville, many of them originating in texas. At the time, desantis threatened to send them to delaware, bidens home state, but delaware is not a Sanctuary State and that threat has not yet materialized. Desantis could have sent this weeks planes to boston but that wouldnt have got him nearly the attention marthas vip yard did. At a Press Conference he kourngted accusations that the migrants had gone against their will or were not told where they were going. The folks that were contracted, not only do they give them a release form to sign, they give them a packet. In that packet included a map of Marthas Vineyard. It was obvious thats where they were going. I would send back to mexico or back to the home country, but here we are doing it voluntarily. Attorneys for some of the migrants have contended thats just not the case. Arrived last night make it clear that they were lied to again and again. And fraudulently induced to board the planes. They were told there was a surprise present for them and that there would be jobs and housing waiting for them when they arrived. At the same time, an msnbc reporter on the ground found migrants pretty happy to be there. I can tell you they are not angry at ron desantis, they are actually thanking him for having brought them to Marthas Vineyard where they were very well received. But other people, well, theyre saying theyre being used as political pawns. They dont resent it for now and they know theyre the lucky ones. By friday, the island m migrants were relocated to Joint Base Cape Cod but it won the news cycle, beating out Lindsey Grahams abortion law, the january 6 committee and Donald Trumps documents. This is what everybody is talking about. This is a trump 2. 0 move. Desantis combative style demonstrates hes very much in sync with the main issues driving republicans and conservatives. Gallup polling earlier this year showed 87 of republicans were dissatisfied with the levelism gr level of immigration into the country. Heres what Charlie Crist told alisyn camerota. Listen, were not even a border state. Were surrounded by water. The only borders we have are with alabama and georgia. So to say that were overwhelmed in florida is ridiculous. Texas may have an issue. It is absurd, its a political stunt. Hes trying to create theater. Not only is desantis up for reelection this year, hes a leading hopeful for the 2024 president ial nomination. If theres any doubt this is what this is all about, he also said this at his Press Conference. All those people in d. C. And new york were beating their chest when trump was president saying they were so proud to be sanctuary jurisdictions, saying how bad it was to have a secure border. The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they all of a sudden go berserk. It just shows you their Virtue Signaling is a fraud. Everybody has got a political position on this. There is so much passion on both sides. But how does this play politically for desantis and his larger political ambitions . Is it a stunt . Of course it is. Are these migrants being used as pawns . Of course they are. But lets keep in mind that they provided written consent, according to desantis, before being transported. Theyre probably doing better than the 1 million others allowed to enter the United States by the Biden Administration pending their asylum claims. Weve got a problem with porous borders, and Vice PresidentKamala Harris seems to be the only person who believes the border is secure. I want to know what you think. Go to my website at smerconish. Com and vote on this weeks Poll Question. Here it is, is Governor Desantis sending meeg igrants to Martha Vineyard a petty stunt or a Public Service. Joining me is gary fineout who previously worked in the Tallahassee Bureau of the associated press. Congressman, first to you. Governors desantis and ducey and abbott, they say theyre pointing out hypocrisy in faraway areas where lawmakers have no skin in the game. Do those governors have a point . Look, we know exactly what theyre doing. Theyre doing this to get publicity, and it is working. But i also understand the frustration that weve been feeling down here along the border. By the way, they might send two buses to washington, d. C. , they might send two buses to new york. I want you to know that in laredo every day we sent out 26 buses. Either by i. C. E. Or ngos to go to cities in the state of texas or even go outside the state of texas to some of those cities. We send out 26 buses a day of the and that doesnt include laredo is one out of the nine Border Patrol sectors. So weve been feeling this frustration for a long time. I did notice that the mayor of d. C. Made a comment yesterday that washington, d. C. , was not a border town and we dont have the infrastructure, they dont have the infrastructure. We have some i have some of the poorest counties in the whole country, and for somebody to say that we have the infrastructure, we dont have the ngos Strong Enough to hands everything. Thats why were sending these folks outside of laredo and the border town. So its interesting. And some of us, and ill say one last point, the city of laredo, this is a democratic area, a year ago sent out buses because they were releasing migrants in the streets of laredo. So the city of laredo started sending the buses over to dallas and houston. The houston mayor called up and said, whoa, whoa, you cant send them over to us. So the city of laredo has been doing this has done this for at least a year or two. On the subject of board are security, heres what the Vice President said on Meet The Press last weekend. Roll it. The border is secure, but we also have a broken Immigration System and in particular over the last four years before we came in and it needs to be fixed. We have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation, including ours and our administration. Congressman, thats just not true, right . Youre on the front line. Youve spent your whole life in laredo. The border is not secure, is it . The border is not secure, with all due respect to the vp. This look, we get thousands of people along the border, from 6,000 to 8,000 people a day. Theyre releasing people, and we can send you pictures and videos of whats happened in del reo, the valley, el paso and other places. People are coming in. We have 1. 7 Million People that were encountered last year. Were going to have 2 or maybe 2. 2 by the end of this fiscal year in about two more weeks. Thats almost 4 Million People. That doesnt even include the getaways. Those are the people that Border Patrol has a good idea evaded them. So youre talking about almost 4 plus, maybe 4. 4 million individuals in two years. If you call that secure, i dont know what secure is. Congressman cuellar, thank you for your time. We appreciate it. Thank you so much. Now to gary fineout. He writes politicos florida playbook where his latest edition is titled questions, confusion and fallout follow desantis migrant transport. Gary, thanks for being here. Desantis governs as a guy representing a ruby red state, but florida isnt, recight . Every four years florida is purple. So how does this play at home in the midst of a Reelection Campaign . Well, i think that desantis and his supporters are would tell you that they dont think florida is a purple state anymore and that they are out to prove it this november and that basically if you look at the trends and demographic and Voter Registration and basically the fact that donald trump won the state in 2020, they would take the position that, no, the state is becoming more republican. And look, the way it looks from here and on the ground in florida, the Desantis Campaign pretty much thinks that they have this election pretty wrapped up. You can tell i mean you had Crist On And A Quote In The First segment. He doesnt have anywhere near the resources. He was actually dark on television for three weeks following his primary win in late august. So while im not saying that they arent going to campaign veg vigorously between now and november, they have clearly put together an apparatus that takes the position that its not just that they will win in november, the question is by how much. Gary, is this really an issue for florida . Is the Migrant Issue really top of mind as a problem for floridians or has desantis injected himself into a National Issue and seized control of it along with ducey in arizona and abbott in texas, who really are on the front line . Well, there have been some polls of late that have kind of looked at the issues and what people think are most incorporate here in florida. Immigration is not a top issue. There are other issues that are more pressing, including inflation and The Cost Of Living and things of that naeture. But you also look at those polls nationally and immigration is a top issue especially in republican voters. Florida is not a border state. Immigration is not something that gets a tremendous amount of attention. But it is an issue that is very important, especially for republican primary voters, especially to those voters who may be Casting Ballots in 2024 for somebody other than donald trump. Do you think that abbott and desantis are coordinating . Ive got this image of the two of them looking at a map of the country and deciding whats going to be next, Beverly Hills or aspen . Well, in regards to the flights to Marthas Vineyard, governor abbotts office said that they were not directly involved in that operation. Now, what is true is that they have been in contact and in touch and basically last year florida sent Law Enforcement to the border to help out texas at that point in time. And so there has been communication on this issue. They have both been highly critical of the Biden Administration. But in terms of the flights this week, the Abbott Administration says, no, we werent involved. Theres no way, final thought, theres no way this sits well with trump. Im sure that trump approves of the underlying action, but the fact that its not his conduct and that its desantis and that desantis star continues to ascend among republicans has got to really bother him. Your thought . Well, i dont have any direct insights into the mind of donald trump. Neither do i. What i would tell you is what i would tell you is that when it comes to what i have been able to pick up from the Desantis Camp basically is donald trump has not made a final decision or not announced a final decision. Maybe he has made a final decision, about what hes going to do in 2024. I think there is plenty of evidence that the desantis people are positioning themselves regarding 2024, especially if trump does not run. If trump doesnt run, its abundantly clear desantis is very well positioned. Desantis and trump, while they are allies an while they communicate occasionally, yeah, there is not desantis is not basically waiting to hear from donald trump before he does something. Hes going to do things on his own and that includes doing things like this that basically in his mind is going to rile up the corporate media, rile up democrats, Rile Up Leftist Activists and hes going to continue to demonstrate that hes the fighter that republicans say they want. He has succeeded. He has succeeded in that regard if nothing else. Dp gary, thank you so much. Thank you. And of course now gavin newsom wants to get in on the action. If you saw the tweet, gavin newsom is saying, hey, desantis, you and i, on cnn. Man, would i love to watch that debate. What are your thoughts . Hit me up on social media. What do we have . Yes, it does reek of stunt on one hand but the Current Administration just saying the border is secure, lets move on, is not cutting it. No more bunker politics. Geno vito, youre absolutely correct. I said is it a stunt . Yes. Is he using these people as pawns . Yes. Although, ill bet theyre better provided for than the other million who have already come into the country seeking asylum. Because youve got to believe the political stakes for abbott god forbid anything happens to somebody on one of those buses for abbott or planes for desantis. That would be political curtains for them. My gut tells me whomever is advancing that visitation, that transport, its like take care of these people at all costs. Give them whatever they need. Make sure youre going to my website at smerconish. Com and answering this weeks Poll Question. Is Governor Desantis sending m migrants to Marthas Vineyard a public stunt or Public Service . Democrats have been happy with polls lately, but the same problems with polls havent been fixed. Ill talk to one of the pollsters with a track record of getting it right. And democrats pump 53 million to promote candidates of maga republicans for governor, senate and the house. Guess what, a bunch of them won. Well, what if they win in november . And youre looking at a live shot of people paying their respects at the queens coffin in Westminster Hall