BOSTON — A rumored plane of migrants coming to Nantucket this week, in a similar fashion to last month’s incident on Martha’s Vineyard, is apparently not happening after all.
Nantucket Police on Monday reported that they’ve spoken directly with the charter company, which confirmed that Tuesday’s scheduled flight to the Massachusetts island “will be carrying executives from an investment company.”
“We believe this information to be credible,” police said in a statement.
This flight update comes after Nantucket Police over the weekend issued an alert about a flight that has “many similarities to the flight and incident that occurred on Martha’s Vineyard” last month — when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent dozens of migrants from Texas to the Bay State island.
On Friday, Nantucket Police Central Dispatch received a call from the Nantucket Memorial Airport Operations about a reported flight that’s scheduled to land on Tuesday.
“The purpose of the call was to inform the Nantucket Police Department that the reported scheduled flight had many similarities to the flight and incident that occurred on Martha’s Vineyard,” Nantucket Police said in the previous alert.
“In the event there is an arrival of a plane carrying migrants, the Nantucket Police Department and many other Town departments have a detailed plan to manage such a situation,” police said.
Last month, the 49 Venezuelan immigrants were flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard on the orders of DeSantis, surprising the island community.
After local residents and groups stepped up to help the immigrants, they were moved to Joint Base Cape Cod, a military base that was better equipped to meet their housing, food and basic needs. The state’s temporary shelter operation ended over the weekend, as transitional housing opportunities were finalized.
The immigrants were in a San Antonio shelter when they were approached and offered housing, job search assistance and a plane ride to Boston. They were misled to board the planes and cross state lines under false pretenses, according to officials and advocates.
DeSantis said the flights to Martha’s Vineyard, paid for by Florida, were part of an effort to “transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.”
A Texas sheriff’s office has launched an investigation into how the migrants were allegedly tricked into getting onto the planes, and Lawyers for Civil Rights has filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis.
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