Some of the 49 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard by the state of Florida are now able to legally work in the United States and have temporary protections from deportation — because they are considered victims of a potential crime, their attorney says.
The migrants are eligible for these protections because they applied for a special kind of visa meant for crime victims who are helping law enforcement, after they said they were tricked into taking charter flights from San Antonio to Massachusetts with false promises of jobs and other aid, said Rachel Self, an attorney for the migrants.
So even though all these migrants were subjected to the same treatment only some of them are getting legal protections?
The migrants are eligible for these protections because they applied for a special kind of visa meant for crime victims who are helping law enforcement, after they said they were tricked into taking charter flights from San Antonio to Massachusetts with false promises of jobs and other aid, said Rachel Self, an attorney for the migrants.
… so, even though all of these migrants were subjected to the same treatment, only some of them are getting legal protection?
Also, were all of these migrants told about the opportunity to apply for this special kind of visa? Or did the cops just pick and choose their favorites?
It’s good to hear some people are getting visas, but allowing a criminally broken immigration system to just keep ruining peoples’ lives and only fixing it for a small handful of them isn’t justice.
Maybe I’m dumb but this seems to mean that not everyone applied. You can’t get the thing if you don’t apply for the thing.
Pretty hard to apply for the thing if you’re not told about it and given the application. Were they all told about it?
deleted by creator
God forbid anything good happen to anyone if it’s not everyone. Just let a good thing happen without screeching that it’s not absolutely, unobtainably perfect. Geez. Some of you all are just absolutely exhausting.
I mean, it’s not like we’re rescuing people from a natural disaster or something out of our control here, we’re stopping an unjust government action from being taken against some people but not others. The only thing stopping us from extending this same humane treatment to all of them is political indifference.
You know what? I fucken agree. Fuck the bureaucracy. All these people deserve the same treatment.
What if one of them kicked your cat?
I agree with you in principle, but without knowing the story of every individual, we simply don’t know.
“If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there’s no progress. If you pull it all the way out that’s not progress. Progress is healing the wound that the blow made. And they haven’t even pulled the knife out much less heal the wound…” Malcolm-X
With respect to Mr. X, that’s still a six-inch reduction to the amount of “knife in back”. That’s better than you were before. We just need to not let it get pushed back in and allow things to heal.
I’m so sick of people shitting all over incremental progress, constantly demanding perfection, and wondering why nothing ever gets done.
Perfect cannot be the enemy of good.
Nobody is shitting on incremental progress.
Rather, they are rightfully asking “when do we get the rest? Why is it only this increment, when it could be more?”
You do not get a pat on the back and a congratulations for doing less than what is expected. You get a “that’s nice, now finish the job”
EDIT: if your 12yo beats the shit out of another kid every day at school, but today they only shoved a kid into a wall instead of kicking their ass, you don’t take them out for ice cream for “incremental improvement”.
So even though all these migrants were subjected to the same treatment only some of them are getting legal protections?
Keep the goalposts in the same spot, please.
No one said they didn’t deserve it. I just highlighted how that specific program works and that they had to apply for it.
🙄
Literally the same comment, buddy
For some context, the Massachusetts state government is helping the migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard sue the airline company that flew them out there (and I think DeSantis too?). I’m assuming that those who are involved in the case are the ones who are eligible for these visas, while those who may have chosen to not pursue legal action aren’t. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the others haven’t gotten other forms of visas or anything though. It is Massachusetts after all, and Mass is a sanctuary state on top of Cape Cod having a major seasonal migrant workforce annually for the summer. The article also says that they had legal status in the US as asylum seekers.
Some further context from the article:
Now, some of the migrants have been granted U visas, which are “set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. They can eventually lead to permanent lawful status in the United States.
The migrants — who were from Venezuela and Peru — were eligible to apply for the visas after Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, a Democrat, certified that they were victims of a crime.
After waiting for more than a year, some migrants earlier this month received “bona fide determinations” in their U visa petition, a status that allows them to obtain temporary work permits and protects them from deportation until their visa becomes available, Self said.
It was not immediately clear how many migrants had received that status from the federal government.
Congress only allows the federal government to issue 10,000 such visas each year. The “bona fide determination” gives the migrants targeted by the state of Florida temporary protections from deportation while they wait for the visa.
It looks like they said “some” because it wasn’t said whether or not all of the migrants had received these visas in the announcement from the federal government.
Correct. It’s the fucked up way the US works. You can get protections/breaks/grants etc. if you know what/how to apply for them (or can retain someone who knows them for you). Many protections are not automatic, in the name of “personal responsibility”.
Not to mention the fuckedup ness of the whole immigration system with quotas for most visa types instituted by Congress.
so the Feds are now on record that at least some of the migrants were victims, which implies that there has been a crime. can we expect charges for said crime? will those responsible for this crime be held accountable? as always, justice delayed is justice denied.
Depends if the prosecutors are Trump republicans or not
Ole’ Ronnie Boy is a real asshole.
