« California’s letter requesting the US Justice Department to investigate Florida is a ridiculous political stunt, » Moody’s said in a statement. “Our Immigration Relocation Program is legal, and California’s application does not identify any violations of federal law. As the Attorney General who leads hundreds of highly trained attorneys and has led dozens of lawsuits against this administration, it is jarring that California is not competent enough to articulate even a minimal legal basis for its claim.
Moody’s, in his letter to Garland, also asked why Newsom and Bonta were only calling for an investigation into the DeSantis administration and not GOP Texas Governor Greg Abbott or Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams into their government transfer efforts. migrants.
Abbott has bused more than 20,000 migrants to Democratic-led cities like Washington, DC, New York City and Chicago, while Adams has transported migrants to Florida, Texas, Delaware and as far away as China. By comparison, DeSantis in total transported about 85 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and Sacramento.
“[Newsom and Bonta] target the state of Florida because the governor of Florida is running for president and is among the first candidates to be nominated to run against the current president,” Moody wrote. “The two oldest elected Democrats in California evidently they don’t believe the current president can win re-election against Governor DeSantis Instead, they hope the DOJ can be misused, once again, against a Republican presidential candidate in an election.
Bonta’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The DOJ declined to comment.
The letter to Garland also revealed that California law enforcement agencies have already traveled to Florida to investigate the migrant flights to Sacramento, but did not provide further details.
Moody’s office did not immediately respond to questions about who California authorities may have spoken to or whether they came to Tallahassee. Bonta’s office in mid-June filed a lengthy request for public records with both DeSantis’ office and the Division of Emergency Management, which oversees private vendors who have been hired as part of DeSantis’ multimillion-dollar program. relocation of migrants.
THE letter from California officials to Garland noted that Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, a Democrat, concluded « that people were tricked into accepting free travel based on false claims that they would be flown from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard and receive lodging, education and job opportunities ».
Moody, who was reelected last year and is seen as a potential 2026 candidate for governor of Florida, has been a staunch and reliable ally of DeSantis and has endorsed his campaign for president. Lui has sued President Joe Biden’s administration several times over its immigration policy and has been equally harshly critical of the president.
The first round of flights of Florida migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last September sparked angry complaints, as well as lawsuits and an investigation by a Texas sheriff and the US Treasury Department’s inspector general. State lawmakers changed the program earlier this year to overturn a lawsuit filed by a Democratic state senator who argued that he was not properly following budget guidelines and state policies.
The letter sent last week by California officials to Garland noted that Salazar said « people were tricked into accepting free travel based on false claims that they would be flown from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard and receive lodging, education, and job opportunities ».
Moody’s said in his letter to the Justice Department that the state’s Division of Emergency Management said all flights were voluntary and migrants gave verbal and written consent and were transported to a third-party charity. in California.
Moody’s office did not immediately respond to questions about whether or not DeSantis’ office requested that the letter be sent to Garland. The attorney general’s office also did not respond to questions about whether he had requested and received flight information before sending the letter to the Justice Department.
