Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday threatened to prosecute Florida Republican counterpart Ron DeSandis for “kidnapping” after two groups of illegal immigrants arrived on a private jet in Sacramento, California’s capital.

The party’s 2024 Republican presidential nominee contender, Mr. DeSandis, has been pursuing a policy of moving immigrants to Democratic states for months in protest of his Democratic President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

In September 2022, the Governor of Florida launched an initiative to fly 48 immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, a highly regarded American high society resort in Massachusetts (Northeast).

In February, he pushed through legislation that would allow his administration to move undocumented immigrants to other states, including outside of Florida.

“Ron DeSandis, you pathetic little man. This is not Martha’s Vineyard. Kidnapping charges? Mr. Newsom made the announcement on Twitter, citing an article in his state’s kidnapping law.

State Attorney General Rob Bonda, for his part, said on Saturday that the investigation began after the arrival of the immigrants, explaining that they were in possession of documents that appeared to have been “issued by the Florida government.”

“We are exploring the possibility of bringing criminal or civil cases against those who transported or organized the transport of these vulnerable migrants,” he added.

The first group of migrants from Colombia and Venezuela arrived on Friday, the second group of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, landed on Monday, US media reported.

Mr. DeSandis’ team did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

A judicial investigation found that the immigrants who were taken to Martha’s Vineyard in September received false promises that they would have jobs there, according to a report published by the Miami Herald newspaper.

Source: RES-IPE