Florida judge rules against DeSantis over immigrant flight records

Brady Knox

October 25, 11:41 PM October 25, 11:41 PM

A Florida judge ruled against Gov Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in a legal fight over documents underlying migrant flights to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

The move Tuesday came in a legal challenge from the Florida Center for Government Accountability, which argued that the governor's office was not following the state's public records law, failing to disclose the documentation surrounding the flights properly, according to Politico. Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh ruled in the group's favor, demanding that DeSantis hand over the proper flight records within 20 days.

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“The governor has been held accountable to his constitutional duty to provide public access to records,” said Michael Barfield, director of public access for Florida Center for Government Accountability, expressing his satisfaction with the ruling. “The rule of law has prevailed.”

The group also said it expects an appeal from the governor's office, which did not immediately comment on the decision.

DeSantis has faced a swarm of legal trouble following his highly publicized move last month to fly immigrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, a prominent neighborhood inhabited by major left-wing figures, including former President Barack Obama. DeSantis joined other Republican governors who have transported immigrants to liberal enclaves in recent months in a bid to draw attention to struggles with immigration at the southern border.

Part of Marsh's ruling is that DeSantis must turn over phone and text logs from his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, which may shed more light on the flights. Marsh ruled that the governor's office had not shown “any steps, direct steps taken to gather what this court finds are public records” related to state business conducted on personal devices, WCJB reported.

DeSantis's staff claims they are doing their best but have been inundated with so many requests that they are unable to provide them all in due time. They also claim that advocacy groups are "weaponizing" the state's public records laws. Marsh rejected both of these arguments.

While the Florida governor's actions were praised across the board by most Republicans, Democrats have roundly decried the move, which several, including Hillary Clinton, have described as "human trafficking."