Wednesday 18 May 2022 12:25 AM How YOU are paying for migrants to take secret charter flights trends now
Secret government charter flights paid for by taxpayer funds are quietly transporting migrants from the southern border to other cities across the U.S.
The flights, which take off from border cities like El Paso, Texas, are taking busloads of illegal aliens to various cities around the country including Jacksonville, Florida, Alexandria, Louisiana and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Lawmakers are demanding more transparency about the flights - which do not appear on tracking websites - and where the migrants are going, with some leaders alleging they were not informed about the relocation plans.
'Health and Human Services has misled me or lied to me several times. I have asked, they actually told me any flights coming into Pennsylvania we will notify you and the local schools,' Congressman Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) told NewsNation. 'They didn’t. They haven’t notified us once.'
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) criticized President Joe Biden's 'secretive operations,' claiming the federal government has been bringing migrants into Jacksonville without alerting the state.
The call for transparency comes as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans next week to end restrictions, known as Title 42, that have prevented migrants from seeking asylum under U.S. law and international treaty on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Border officials are preparing for surge in the numbers of migrants - and charter flights - when the health order expires on May 23.
NewsNation Correspondent Brian Entin recently visited the El Paso airport as the migrants were hoarded onto the planes. He will provide an undercover look at the government's discreet charter flight operation Tuesday at 8pm EST on NewsNation Prime with Marni Hughes.
Secret charter flights paid for by the U.S. government with taxpayer funds are quietly transporting migrants from the southern border to other cities across the nation
Migrants are taken off of buses and transported to various cities around the country, often without the knowledge of elected officials in those regions
Everyday three to four buses carrying illegal immigrants arrive in El Paso, according to Border Patrol agents.
On Sunday alone, officials encountered approximately 1,200 migrants.
Entin, who recently visited the border, watched as busloads of migrants were shackled, frisked and guarded by ICE agents before being loaded onto two charter planes. He claims to planes were headed to Alexandria and Harrisburg.
After the flights, the migrants are loaded on to buses and discreetly relocated to American cities.
Those with criminal backgrounds are taken to detention facilities and unaccompanied minors are placed in shelters, however it remains unclear where the non-criminals and families are placed.
Rep. Meuser has sponsored a bill, known as The Immigration Transparency and Transit Notification Act, demanding governors and all relevant elected officials be notified when illegal immigrants are placed in their regions.
The legislation also requires quarterly reports providing assessment data who came into the country and where they went afterwards.
'The American people are paying for this. It’s all taxpayer dollars obviously I think the American people have the right to know,' he told NewsNation affiliate WBRE in December 2021.
Congressman Dan Meuser (left) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (right) both allege the charter flights brought migrants into their home states without notification
Marling, an asylum-seeking migrant from Nicaragua, holds her four-year-old daughter Ayling, as they are processed by a border patrol agent after wading across the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in Roma, Texas on May 13, 2022
He also argued that providing data about the whereabouts of the migrants could aid in offering them assistance.
'We’re not looking for addresses but let’s face it, we can actually help right if the Children Services knew that adolescents or even younger people are coming in,' he explained.
With Title 42 ending next week, officials argue transparency surrounding the charter flights is even more imperative, especially as authorities brace for a massive influx of migrants.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who visited the southern border Tuesday, insists the border will not be 'open' once the health order ends.
'It is very important to note that while, of course, we are preparing for the end of Title 42 based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's decision that it will end
