Maria traveled more than 4,800 miles from Venezuela and arrived in the United States in early May. But once across the border, she was just four blocks to the Sacred Heart Church refuge in downtown El Paso.

Like many asylum seekers paroled by Customs and Border Protection, she said she had no money to buy plane or bus tickets. She slept in a church shelter and then in an outdoor alley for three weeks when a woman approached her and said she would be taking her to California on a private jet.

“She said I should go, there will be people to receive us, to provide us with lodging, to help us… [immigration] Please submit the documents in order,” Maria said. She asked to reveal only her first name for fear of repercussions from women who approached her.

What Maria didn’t know was that the woman was a contractor hired by the administration of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Maria found herself in the middle of a political storm. The immigrant plane and its garnering public attention is a new chapter in the political battle over the border, with California officials vowing to investigate whether travelers were misled and Florida governor hardline. It doubles its policies and its own image. cultural warrior.

The contractor, along with another woman and two men, spent the afternoon walking around the church to get immigrants like Maria onto charter flights to Sacramento. Maria and other immigrants said the contractors didn’t say more than they were there to “help immigrants.”

That weekend, the contractor successfully recruited two flights of immigrants. There were 16 on the Friday flight and 20 on the Monday flight. They drove two hours west to a small airport in New Mexico for their trip to Sacramento.

The plan is a ruse by Mr. DeSantis, condemning what he calls an “awakening,” focusing on attacking states such as California over “sanctuary city” policies and drawing attention to his recently launched presidential campaign. collected.

California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the flight.

“My administration is working with the California Department of Justice to investigate…whether the person who orchestrated this trip misled anyone with false promises or violated criminal law, including kidnapping,” he said. rice field. written in a statement the next day.

DeSantis and his spokesperson have defended the flight, arguing that the migrants’ decision to board was entirely voluntary. DeSantis organized a similar protest flight in 2022, recruiting migrants to fly to Martha’s Vineyard in Del Rio, Texas. Despite widespread condemnation and an ongoing criminal investigation over whether these immigrants were misled, the Florida legislature this year earmarked $12 million for such flights. DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

In Arizona on Wednesday, near the border with Mexico, he condemned what he called an “open border” policy, saying, “I think sanctuary jurisdictions will have to put up with it.”

In El Paso, three migrants who were approached by contractors but decided not to accompany them said the contractor’s offer was vague and dubious. Contractors maintained a friendly mix but actively encouraged migrants to board planes and requested access to documents handed over by border agents, contacts said.

Venezuelan immigrant Genesis Rodriguez puts on makeup after waking up at a campsite outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso earlier this month.

(Andres Leighton/Associated Press)

A Venezuelan woman told her contractor that she didn’t want to go to California but was going to New York. He said he would make a reservation. The woman asked not to release her name because her contractor’s identity was not yet known and she feared repercussions if she returned. Other immigrants who turned down contractors expressed similar concerns.

Maria said the contractor who spoke to her was persistent and kept telling her to get on the plane. When Maria said no, he wanted to stay in El Paso to meet the court date, so the contractor told Maria to “change the date.”

The whole event made Maria nervous. She was worried that the mysterious contractor was a drug trafficker. Why would they have private planes? The contractor seemed to sense her nervousness.

“She told us not to be afraid and she didn’t want to steal our hearts, our organs, etc.,” Maria said.

Despite the woman’s insistence on getting on the plane, Maria eventually refused. But she watched with unease as one of her friends went with them.

Imelda Maynard, an attorney at the Southern New Mexico Catholic Charities Legal Aid Clinic, met with the family members who chose to accompany the contractor that Thursday. Her family, who became clients of her organization, were offered help finding her housing and jobs, she said. Her husband, wife and four young children traveled about two hours to New Mexico in a rental van driven by a contractor, where the contractor booked a room at the Super 8 Motel and soon disappeared.

Maynard said contractors reappeared the next morning to load some of the migrants onto a private plane, but they were unsure if the family would be able to travel with the children and had to ask the father to postpone it. It is said that there is Customers waited at the motel until Sunday, Maynard said, when one of the contractors suggested that the father could fly alone the next day and the family could join him at another time. The family asked to return to El Paso instead. they were allowed to leave.

Maynard said her father told her the family had been treated well by contractors. They were well fed and lived comfortably. Nevertheless, he was uneasy that they would come looking for his family and kept a watchful eye. Like other immigrants, he feared that the contractor was a drug trafficker.

Maynard said his father then got a call from a woman who had landed in California. Maynard said her woman told her father that her plane was a “scam” and that she had no job waiting for them.

Immigrants wake up at a campground outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso on May 9.

(Andres Leighton/Associated Press)

That Sunday, a friend of Maria’s who had gone with a contractor also called from California. Maria said the friend said a contractor drove her to the motel for about two hours and then took her to the airport the next day. As promised, a private plane was waiting at the airport.

Maria said a friend said police questioned the migrants as soon as they got off the plane, and she and others said so. met the governor of california. Confused about what was going on around her, her friend told Maria that everything was “normal” on her flight and that she arrived safely in California as promised.

Maria’s friends could not be contacted to confirm her experience. Newsom confirmed that he met with immigrants on Saturday with California Ati. General Rob Bonta.

Newsom spokesman Anthony York, who was present at the rally, said the immigrants appeared to be in good spirits. They were dropped off in front of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento and then housed and fed by a local federation of faith groups.

“We’ve seen people get their first deep sleep for an unknown amount of time, but I think a lot of them were just happy to be fed and clothed,” York said. “And many of them were in a very good mood simply because they were welcomed by the NGOs that hosted them and the faith communities that received them.”

Yorke said the DeSantis administration was using immigrants for “propaganda” purposes after it released a video showing people signing documents, smiling and waving as they boarded a commercial airliner. condemned. “

“This is a ruse to use Florida taxpayers to move immigrants from Texas to California instead of Florida in a desperate attempt to win votes in Iowa and New Hampshire,” Yorke said. Mentioned DeSantis’ 2024 bid. “It just sucks.”

Father Rafael Garcia, pastor of the Sacred Heart Church, said he learned about the flight on the news, but was surprised that a contractor in Florida chose the 125-year-old church as a site to recruit immigrants. said he didn’t. The church and its shelter make frequent headlines, and immigrant arrivals in El Paso hit a record high in the past year. Still, Garcia was disappointed to learn what had happened.

“It is immoral to use deception to make a political statement or to create a scandal in the media,” Garcia said. “You are using people for your own purposes, disregarding their dignity.”

The priest said that if the contractor returned to the church to recruit more immigrants, he would take pictures of the car and call the police.

By the end of the week, news began to spread within the Sacred Heart Refuge as to who had actually put the immigrants on the plane. Luis Guerrero, a Venezuelan asylum seeker staying at the church, was outraged when he learned that a politician had organized a charter flight as part of a protest.

“I see the truth is that the way they used immigrants is very bad,” he said. “They don’t understand the reality here, that it was inevitable that we’ve been through all these dangers. Whether it’s the governor of Florida, or the governor of California, or the governor of anywhere, immigration. We should focus on solving our own domestic problems, rather than using the

But even for the immigrants who turned down free charter flights, it was clear why someone else was boarding. For some, it promised lodging and help with immigration lawsuits. For others, it was just a ride to California, where many immigrants want to go but don’t know how.

Many Texas border immigrants are unfamiliar with the country’s vast geography and are prepared for how expensive transportation can be from places like El Paso to cities as far afield as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. I haven’t been able to do it. The federal government does not provide funding or assistance for shelter or travel, and for years nonprofits and local shelters have raised money to help these migrants book trips to reunite with their families. .

In 2022, Texas Governor Greg Abbott will begin sending charter buses from the Texas border to Washington, New York, and Chicago. The bus was Mr. Abbott’s attempt to protest Democrats’ immigration policies, but many immigrants welcomed the free ride from the border.

However, some people report feeling confused about their final destination, especially for those unsure of US geography. Many migrants who took flights to Martha’s Vineyard organized by DeSantis in 2022 told reporters they felt misunderstood and taken advantage of. No contractor had even attempted to go to the island, which has little refuge space or immigration assistance, until it was approached by the State of Florida.

In El Paso on Friday, asylum seeker Norman Manuel Martinez from Nicaragua said he regretted not having had the chance to fly. He arrived at the Church of the Sacred Heart on Monday after the last flight had already left.

In his first week in the city, Martinez struggled to raise money to reunite with his nephew in Los Angeles and childhood friend in San Francisco. Martinez has spent two long days harvesting onions this week, as men have been arriving at the shelter since morning on farms to the east to offer day labor.

When asked if he would take a charter flight when the contractor returned, he replied immediately.

“Of course I will,” he said. “Of course I will.”

Special Correspondent Yvan Pierre Aguirre contributed to this report.