OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Martha’s Vineyard is having an immigration crisis by its standards and it does not know what to do.
Virtue signaling about being a sanctuary and actually being a sanctuary is not the same thing, as Martha’s Vineyard has learned. And the coordinator for Martha’s Vineyard homeless shelter Harbor Homes, Lisa Belcastro, made comments that set Twitter on fire.
She was asked on Thursday what the “most difficult challenges” are with handling the migrants, she had an answer that had many calling her a hypocrite.
“The difficult challenges are, we have, at some point in time they have to move from here to somewhere else,” she said.
“We cannot, we don’t have the services to take care of 50 immigrants,” she said. “And we certainly don’t have housing. We’re in a housing crisis as we are on this island. And we don’t, we can’t house everyone here that lives here and work here. We don’t have housing for 50 more people.”
Twitter went off on the woman and her “hypocrisy.”
“Wow. The wealthiest, most well-connected people on earth can’t take care of 50 people. Imagine what the poor and middle-class folks dealing with tens of thousands per day in border towns are dealing with,” Babylon Bee editor Joel Berry said.
Wow. The wealthiest, most well-connected people on earth can't take care of 50 people. Imagine what the poor and middle-class folks dealing with tens of thousands per day in border towns are dealing with. https://t.co/rWO9WClD5m
— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) September 15, 2022
“Wow! This Martha’s Vineyard Democrat doesn’t seem very welcoming or progressive. ‘We don’t have housing for 50 immigrants.’ Uh, don’t the Obamas have a 10 bedroom mansion there? That will fit half of them,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw said.
Wow! This Martha’s Vineyard Democrat doesn’t seem very welcoming or progressive.
“We don’t have housing for 50 immigrants.”
Uh, don’t the Obamas have a 10 bedroom mansion there? That will fit half of them.
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) September 15, 2022
“Martha’s Vineyard claims to be a ‘sanctuary’ jurisdiction that welcomes illegal aliens. Most of those multi million dollar mansions are summer homes that are vacant most of the year. They can be used to house thousands of illegal migrants. Time to walk the walk, Biden voters,” she said.
“Liberal elites are the biggest hypocrites on earth. They worship open borders until the border arrives at their own doorstep,” former aide to Margaret Thatcher, Nile Gardiner, said.
Liberal elites are the biggest hypocrites on earth. They worship open borders until the border arrives at their own doorstep. https://t.co/RY2YKRarzg
— Nile Gardiner (@NileGardiner) September 15, 2022
Daily Wire reported.
Political commentator Stephen L. Miller mocked: “Despicable xenophobia. This is not who we are.”
“50 people. These rich snobs are claiming they can’t handle *50 people* in their town,” John Cooper of the Heritage Foundation tweeted. “Meanwhile border towns are dealing with hundreds of people every single day.”
New York Post reporter Jon Levine tweeted: “How many people attended President Obama’s covid superspreader party on Martha’s Vineyard?”
“Maybe they can re-erect the tent?” Levine added. “Or just knock on his door. I am sure his home has space.”
Foreign policy analyst Michael Scott Doran responded: “Don’t get her wrong. She’s likes immigrants. But they need to be in a community with low rent housing.”
“It’s unfair to THEM to house them around rich people,” Doran continued. “She doesn’t realize that she is reading from a script that DeSantis wrote for her.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, appointed so-called ‘border czar’ by President Joe Biden shortly after the two of them took office, got a migrant-related surprise early Thursday morning.
Two buses containing between 75 and 100 migrants from Eagle Pass, Texas, who had crossed into the U.S. illegally were sent to the VP’s residence by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, Fox News reported.
“The group includes migrants from Venezuela, Uruguay, Colombia and Mexico. Multiple migrants, asked by Fox News Digital, said they think the border is open, contrary to what Harris said Sunday during an interview,” the outlet noted further.
BREAKING: 2 migrant buses arrive outside Vice President Kamala Harris' Naval Observatory residence in DChttps://t.co/SHaUcs1HsJ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 15, 2022
🚨Breaking: Two migrant buses from Southern Border just arrived outside Kamala Harris residence at Naval Observatory in DC. pic.twitter.com/41QnF3p16W
— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) September 15, 2022
The arrival of the illegal migrants outside Harris’ residence came just hours after Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis followed through on his vow to send illegal migrants to ritzy Martha’s Vineyard, where the Obamas have a home, among many other notable wealthy Americans.
“Yes, Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha’s Vineyard today were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations,” an official for DeSantis’ office said in a statement, according to Fox News.
“States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden Administration’s open border policies,” the statement added.
Just in: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has sent 2 planes carrying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard—His communications director says the transport was “part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.” @NewsNation pic.twitter.com/8lS21oqXzf
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) September 15, 2022
The official noted further: “As you may know, in this past legislative session the Florida Legislature appropriated $12 million to implement a program to facilitate the transport of illegal immigrants from this state consistent with federal law.”
