By Jonathan Mason-June 3rd,2023.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Justice are investigating after a group of migrants from Texas were dropped off in front of a church in Sacramento without warning, state leaders announced on Saturday, reports KCRA News of Sacramento, California.
In the statement, Newsom said that he and California Attorney General Rob Bonta met with more than a dozen migrants on Saturday and learned that they were taken from Texas to New Mexico and then flown to Sacramento on a private jet. Bonta said the group carried documents that appeared to be issued by the state of Florida.
“State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a public policy choice, it is immoral and disgusting,” Bonta said. He noted his agency is evaluating potential criminal or civil action against those who transported or arranged for the transport of these vulnerable immigrants.”
The group of 16 migrants from Venezuela and Colombia were dropped off Friday night outside of the Diocese of Sacramento. Officials with community organization PICO California said the migrants were approached outside of a migrant center in El Paso, Texas by people representing a private contractor stating that they would help get them to a migrant center that would provide them with jobs and other free support. Officials said the migrants had no idea where they were upon their arrival to California and many came with nothing but a backpack and the clothes on their backs.
“They’re in shock, I think they’re very exhausted I think they are just trying to catch up with processing exactly what happened,” said Cecilia Flores with Sacramento Area Congregations Together.
Newsom’s administration and the California Department of Justice said they are working together to determine who paid for the travel of the migrants and whether they were misled, given false promises or kidnapped.
