No freaking way is he stupid enough to say anything like that, much less put it in writing.
Correct! Unfortunately, however, none of those immigrants ever spoke with Abbott or DeSantis, so fantasizing that they’re going down for kidnapping by false pretenses is still more or less delusional.
It is not a crime merely to entice an asylum-seeker to accept a free bus ride to D.C. It might be a crime to do so by means of false representations, but Abbott and DeSantis didn’t do that, and it’s exceedingly unlikely either of them told anyone to use false representations to entice the asylum-seekers to get on the buses.
Mebbe, mebbe not. My impression of DeSantis is that:
He’s very full of himself, and
Doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with this.
If you don’t think you’re doing anything wrong, you can become quite incautious.
I agree that I doubt DeSantis did anything prosecutable, or that he left any evidence.
I’m not that convinced that Ms. Huerta is as clean. And my main point was that if she gets prosecuted, she may not want to take it lying down, and start saying some things that look pretty bad about DeSantis.
It reminds me of the line from Godfather II about “buffers”.
As usual when discussing criminal law I agree with everything you say, which does a good job of pointing out the challenges faced by prosecutors in high profile cases where the perpetrators have money to fight the charges.
But prosecuting their henchmen is another matter and that could lead up the chain and if nothing else would be a real embarrassment and deterrent to future henchmen.
Legalities aside, what these governors are engaged in is Performance Art, the purpose of which is to further cement a feeling of homogeneity and commonality among their voters, minions and followers.
Demographically, it is understandable that this is the time that they have chosen to pull out all the stops.
And, ironically, the lock-step GOP has a shot at overcoming the efforts of our varied-constituencies-wrapped-into-a-coalition…where less meets more and “wins”.
Wins for a worsening of American government…We should long ago have been on the side of educating people on the rights and privileges of being a citizen. It’s more than simply being a consumer.
And my point is that they will have nothing to say about Abbott and/or DeSantis, because neither of them are stupid enough to say anything that makes them criminal conspirators. DeSantis did not tell Perla to kidnap Venezuelans via means of false representations. He did not tell her to entice them by promising jobs and healthcare and free ponies at their destinations. It is beyond silly to think otherwise.
Of course, this does not address the fraud, which was Perla and others claiming that jobs and support would be there specifically for those people. IOW, not making it clear before they got on the bus that there’s no prep specifically for them and that their destination was chosen strictly based on an overall city policy of treating immigrants like human beings.
Also, doesn’t this put greater burden on the processed asylum seekers to get to court because the court appearance would have been arranged for the area in which they were processed?
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine has opened an investigation into whether southern border state governors misled immigrants as part of what he called a “political stunt” to transport them to Washington.
Racine told ProPublica and The Texas Tribune his office is examining whether immigrants were deceived by trip organizers before boarding buses for Washington, including several hundred who were bused from Texas under instructions from Gov. Greg Abbott and dropped near the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris. Racine’s office has the authority to bring misdemeanor criminal charges or to file civil fraud cases. … … … … …
I get it - it’s difficult to prove things communicated through a nudge and a wink, but someone with access to taxpayer dollars is directing Perla, et al to get immigrants on the buses. It’s hard to imagine that when Perla is finally hauled in that she’s going to say, “Yup, the false claims were all my idea,” and the scale of the operation makes it pretty clear that Perla ain’t the only “recruiter” out there.
No doubt Ron and Greg will skate because they have plenty of buffer, but hopefully a few of their minions will learn what it means to work for complete assholes.
It’s Abbott, DeSantis and Ducey who, rather than dealing with real problems, send immigrants to “blue” places expecting they now “own the libs” … They don’t give a shit about people and what their needs are. They’re just heartless fuckwads in my opinion. Promise someone a job and housing for their family, put em on a plane who’s destination is unknown and fly them to Martha’s Vineyard. They get off the plane and think “where the fuck are we?” These three governors should be charged with kidnapping or at least some lesser charge and fucking jailed.
The “inveigles (or) decoys” part of the federal kidnapping act may come into play here. They were lured with promises of jobs and/or housing. The opening line of the federal kidnapping act:
Whoever unlawfully seizes, confines, inveigles, decoys, kidnaps, abducts, or carries away and holds for ransom or reward or otherwise any person
Spending thousands of dollars while their own constituents experience financial woes and infrastructure loss to ship immigrants to other cities just for spite.
It’s not the same, but I am reminded that the Nazis were shipping trainloads of sufferers to the concentration camps during the last days of the war even though the 3rd Reich knew they had lost.
And I think of the money spent that could have been given to a school, or a water treatment plant and made a world of difference in Floridians lives and well being. But nope.
