Blake Masters believes DeSantis’ decision to send migrants to Martha’s Vineyard a necessary stunt

PHOENIX — Blake Masters believes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent move to fly Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard was a necessary stunt that put more eyes on the country’s issues at the southern border.

“I think people should be deported 2,000 miles away, not to Martha’s Vineyard, but if they’re going to go somewhere, I think it’s probably good to go to Martha’s Vineyard,” Masters, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in Arizona, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad on Tuesday.

Masters, like many Republicans, has been critical of the Biden administration’s handling of issues at the U.S.-Mexico border. The GOP has upped their resistance to continued high migrant crossings, including the Martha’s Vineyard move.

“Yeah, it was a stunt, absolutely,” Masters said. “But he caused the press to finally talk about this open border.”

Masters wants the Remain in Mexico policy, the Trump-era policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court, to be reinstated.

The Biden administration ended the policy in early August.

“I don’t think we should be accepting illegal aliens into this country,” Masters said.

DeSantis said the flights to the vacation island south of Boston last week were part of an effort to “transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.”

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, along with DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, have also sent thousands of migrants on buses to New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., in an effort to expose more people to problems at the border.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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