The Catholic diocese of Sacramento lies on a dingy stretch of road between a gas station and a graveyard, about two miles from the state Capitol. It’s an office building, with a hard-to-find entrance and no church to tend those in need.
It was here that about a dozen Latin American asylum seekers were dumped last Friday by the state of Florida. Days later, another 20 migrants arrived, courtesy of the Sunshine State.
Florida authorities have called it a “voluntary relocation,” suggesting the deportees — powerless, impoverished — were a party to their transcontinental evacuation and unceremonious delivery.
In fact, it’s just the latest human sacrifice on the altar of political ambition by Florida’s White House-seeking governor, Ron DeSantis.
His supine state Legislature, which makes virtually every DeSantis’ wish its command, has allotted $24 million to ship migrants — even those outside of Florida — from the southern border to other, mostly Democratic, states.
Take that, woke lefties!
Columnists Anita Chabria and Mark Z. Barabak discuss the political stunt and the scorpions-in-a-bottle relationship between DeSantis and California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom, who wishes he could run for president.
Chabria: When I look at these flights, I can’t get past that DeSantis will be in Sacramento later this month for a $3,300-per-muffin fund-raising breakfast.
These flights made headlines — no amount of paid media could match the national attention. My cynical side wonders if this is all just publicity seeking for a presidential contender. Could it be that simple, if vile?
Barabak: Yes, it could be.
Let your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free serve as a political advance team. Whip out those checkbooks, folks, Ron DeSantis is coming to town!
His nascent White House bid hasn’t gone nearly as well as the advance hype promised.
The formal announcement was a glitchy embarrassment. (That’ll teach him to outsource technical support to Elon Musk’s chewing-gum-and-baling-wire version of Twitter.)
DeSantis still seems to be working on connecting with voters, a crucial part of running for president, which all the doting in the world from Florida’s ambition-oozing first lady can’t help.
So apparently he’s chosen to fire up the old outrage machine, and what better way to get folks riled up than stoking the trusty immigration issue?
Do you think, Anita, it was coincidence that Florida played door-bell ditch on Newsom’s front-porch rather than, say, flying its victims to Maryland or Louisiana, which also have Democratic governors?
Chabria: I do not.
There’s no end of hostility between Newsom and DeSantis. They’ve beefed about hair gel and Disneyland. They’ve skirmished over guns, abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and education. Newsom took a family vacation through the South and tweaked Florida’s governor in his neck of the woods.
Now DeSantis is returning the favor.
But let’s not pretend our own governor wasn’t thrilled to respond to this latest provocation. While it’s true Newsom’s White House ambitions have been caged by Biden’s decision to run again, they remain alive and kicking.
Our geriatric president tripping over a sandbag last week at the Air Force Academy commencement in Colorado was just the latest reminder of his advanced age and the worry that causes in Democratic circles. No doubt Newsom isn’t the only one who wonders if there are more sandbags on the 80-year-old Biden’s road ahead.
Meantime, he can thank DeSantis for putting the national spotlight, for the moment, on something other than California’s homeless crisis.
But Newsom aside, immigration is a vital issue that we have as a country have failed to handle policywise, leading to incalculable human suffering. Even under Obama, we separated families.
So in that sense, do you think DeSantis has a point? Can the Democrats really claim a high ground on the issue?
Barabak: Obama, as you note, angered many with his approach to immigration. Critics branded him “deporter-in-chief” because of the millions booted from the country during his eight years in office.
Biden, for his part, has been attacked for being too lax on border enforcement and too harsh in his administration’s treatment of immigrants.
Yes, as you said, our immigration system is a mess and generations of politicians have ignored the problem or, worse, exploited it for their own selfish ends.
I think we can agree, though, that shamelessly exploiting people for political gain — moving them around the country like cargo, dropping them on the sidewalk like a used candy wrapper — is a whole other order of cruelty and callous irresponsibility.
None of this takes place in a political vacuum. But as we game out the electoral implications, let’s not forget these are flesh-and-blood human beings who, at possibly the most fearful and vulnerable moment in their lives, are being terribly exploited.
There but for the grace.
Chabria: My father arrived on a boat as a refugee, so you’ll get no argument from me.
It’s important that our attorney general, Rob Bonta, is investigating whether the flights were any form of human trafficking — or kidnapping, as our governor tweeted in a moment of high hyperbole. These are people blatantly being used for campaign purposes and deserve the full protection and respect of our laws.
Of course, Bonta is likely running for governor (he’s hinted at it but hasn’t announced) and doesn’t mind the big splash of attention — just more proof you can’t separate politics from policy or cameras from campaigns.
Barabak: I’m not a lawyer, and I won’t try to play one in the newspaper. But I think the chances of anyone going to jail for pulling this stunt is as likely as DeSantis and Newsom running together in 2024 on a unity ticket.
“Tweeting is not policy” was the explanation given when our itchy-fingered governor blustered a hollow threat against Walgreens in a fight over abortion access.
It’s also not a prosecutor’s brief.
Maybe we need a law requiring a 48-hour waiting period before Newsom tweets.
Chabria: I will say this for California — having leaders standing up to the bigotry and bias that DeSantis and others are spewing is vital. It gives confidence to those here that their rights will be protected.
Whether Newsom and, to a lesser degree, Bonta have political motivations or a sound legal argument, they are speaking loudly for the values of this state.
As a fan of dark Brandon, Biden’s aviator-sporting alter ego, I think there’s something to be said for punching back.
But these “voluntary relocations” are going to continue, aren’t they, because they serve their purpose so well? Here we all are, talking about it.
Barabak: I’ve said before and will repeat: There’s no organism on Earth more sensitive to heat and light than a politician.
As long as candidates like DeSantis believe there’s an advantage to be had in performative political acts like migrant-dumping — heartless as they may be — those sort of ploys will continue.
But let’s not allow voters off the hook.
Until and unless they convince lawmakers they need to address the immigration issue in a meaningful way — which means legislation and compromise on all sides— or seriously risk losing office, they’ll keep doing nothing.
In the meantime, to quote a sage political observer, Bob Dylan, I pity the poor immigrant.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
