LULAC files DOJ complaint urging investigation into migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard

The League of United Latin American Citizens has filed a complaint with the Department of Justice, calling for an investigation into the transit of migrants last month from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard, specifically the involvement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took credit for the move. In a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, LULAC’s national president, Domingo García of Dallas, announced the organization was filing the complaint and increasing the reward for information about the whereabouts of Perla Huerta to $10,000. Huerta has been identified as the woman who allegedly arranged the flights to Martha’s Vineyard and misled migrants about the flight’s destination.

“It’s time that we bring not only Perla Huerta to justice, but those that hired her and are complicit in this scheme to use human beings in this manner,” García, a former Texas state representative and Dallas City Council member, said. Huerta served as a counterintelligence agent and combat medic specialist in the U.S. Army until August. García said Huerta had left her residence in Tampa, Fla., and deleted her Facebook profile. Still, LULAC was able to pull a photo from her social media and obtained another from a migrant in San Antonio. The day after migrants were flown to Martha’s Vineyard, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had escalated his busing efforts by dropping migrants off outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ Naval Observatory residence in D.C., without notifying local authorities or nonprofits who have been managing migrant arrivals. García came to the vice president’s residence and said he interviewed migrants there, and later in Martha’s Vineyard. Through these conversations, he learned about “Perla.” “A woman who had lied to them, had told them that they were going to have three months paid work, free housing, free food and free social services if they got on a jet and flew with them to an unknown destination,” García said at the news conference. The $10,000 reward goes to anyone with information about her location or that could lead to her possible arrest. García said the allegations against Huerta include misuse of Florida taxpayer funds, human trafficking, violating multiple immigration laws and making false promises leading to possible kidnapping.