They showed themselves in a video submitted by Florida authorities as evidence of their consent to travel to California, but said they weren’t what they appeared to be.

Yes they were happy. That part was true.

After traveling thousands of miles from their home in Venezuela over three months, they finally arrived in the United States. They walked until their feet were bleeding and took buses and trains whenever possible. Sometimes I would go days without food and collapse from exhaustion.

A young couple was sleeping in the jungle, hugging each other without a blanket. They used up the rice and tuna they had packed in, and survived by picking fruit from trees. They cleaned windshields in exchange for donations and food as they traveled through cities.

“There have been many moments of despair, frustration and fear,” the 34-year-old husband said in Spanish in an interview with The Times in Sacramento on Friday. “But with God, we felt at peace. It wasn’t easy.”

Four immigrants who recently flew to Sacramento from Florida interviewed The Times and requested anonymity out of concern that they could influence future court proceedings or endanger families remaining in their home country.

They are among the 36 people who arrived on two charter flights this month, with Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis running for president and lashing out at Democrats’ immigration policies, taking responsibility for them. .

After traveling from Central and South America to escape domestic violence and poverty, they unwittingly landed at the center of America’s political blaze.

They say they were duped by Florida officials and are grateful to be in the United States, but their plans were derailed because immigration hearings are now sweeping across the country and job opportunities are stalling.

Members of the group, including former residents of Colombia and Guatemala, came to California to help them get a home, a high paying job, and a lawyer so they could get their permits to work legally sooner. He said it was because he was promised to give it to him.

When the couple crossed the border into Texas, it meant it was all worth it. I was able to send money to the children I left behind with my grandparents in Venezuela, with the hope of eventually being reunited.

The children, ages 9, 10 and 13, were not wearing shoes and were not eating properly, according to their father.

So their smiles in the video promoted by DeSantis were real. But it promises more, they said.

Contractors hired by Florida officials they met in Texas earlier this month promised higher-paying jobs elsewhere, they said. The couple were pressured to sign papers to travel, but they did not understand that doing so meant that the state of Florida was waiving its verbal commitments. Told.

“We didn’t get what they expected. They told us that if we got on the plane, we would have shelter, jobs and food,” the man said. “And all we received was a waiver.”

He is tall and strong. But as he sat in the sanctuary of Parkside Community Church, he rubbed his feet tensely whenever his topic turned to his children. His tears streamed down this face.

He wore denim shorts printed with the American flag and a matching American flag sweatshirt. The clothes had been recently picked at a local thrift store with the help of organizers since they were dropped off at the doorstep of the local parish. 2 weeks ago.

“I didn’t know we were all being duped,” he said.

Over a cup of coffee and a ponytail, his wife, 28, explained that she was grateful for the kindness shown by Sacramento’s nonprofit and faith communities, but that if she had known this, she would not have come. truth.

During the few days they spent in El Paso after arriving in the United States, they slept in shelters and immediately went to work. He earned $80 a day on construction work, and his wife cleaned up the work site afterwards, which earned him $50.

They came to Sacramento because they thought they could make more money and help their children sooner, she said. Now they have no job and have to start over.

“I wanted to stay there to make money,” she said.

Florida officials have disputed accusations that immigrants were duped in the name of a political stunt, but some people who spoke to the media for the first time on Friday claimed they were blatantly lied to. are doing.

Florida officials said in a statement last week that the flight was part of a “voluntary migration” program and provided footage of people believed to be signing waiver forms agreeing to travel. California Ati.General Rob Bonta investigating the issue And Governor Gavin Newsom has raised kidnapping charges against DeSantis.

DeSantis administration officials could not be reached for comment when asked about the migrants’ allegations on Friday.

One immigrant showed the Times papers given to him by the Florida Emergency Management Agency, which referred to a “voluntary transportation program,” which would not result in any lawsuit being filed against the state of Florida in exchange for free transportation. I agree not. The man did not sign the waiver, but asked signers to agree that their travel decisions were not in exchange for “representations or undertakings” regarding employment, benefits, medical care or other assistance.

But immigrants who spoke to The Times said that’s exactly what happened.

A 27-year-old man from Guatemala said his girlfriend and 4-year-old son-in-law were separated by immigration officials after they arrived in the United States.

He is keen to work and earn an income so he can move them from New York, where they are now living in a shelter, to Sacramento.

The journey was difficult for the young family. In Mexico, shelters were often overcrowded and people had to sleep on the streets. When it was too cold outside, they put their son in up to six pajamas.

He worked as a security guard in Guatemala, where he never had enough money to make ends meet and where violence was rampant.

“If someone leaves the country, it’s because they need it, not because they want to,” he said. “I don’t want anything else out of life. I just want to be able to work and have my family together.”

he saw the news He knows that a trip here has reignited a national debate over immigration reform and fueled a nasty feud between DeSantis and Newsom. He knows Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent immigrants to Los Angeles in a similar move this week.

He said he had tried to ignore it and focus on his mission to reunite his family, but he couldn’t take it anymore. He is upset that he was told he would hire a lawyer to help him and his girlfriend build a life together. Instead, he said, nothing was left in the parking lot.

He said he had to rush to sign the waiver before he could read it in full, and he had never even seen a copy in Spanish.

“They’re saying the version that makes no sense,” he said of Florida officials. “What I really want you to understand is that they promised us something and they haven’t delivered yet.”