Texas sheriff opens investigation into transport of Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard

BEXAR COUNTY, TX – The Bexar County, Texas Sheriff announced Monday afternoon that he is launching a criminal investigation into the transport of 48 Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last week.

Sheriff Javier Salazar says on Wednesday, September 14, in San Antonio, a Venezuelan migrant was paid a “bird dog fee to recruit approximately 50 migrants form an area around a migrant resource center.”

Salazar says to his understanding the migrants were “lured under false pretenses” into staying at a hotel for a few days, then shuttled to an airplane, then flown to Florida and eventually to Martha’s Vineyard “under false pretenses.”

The migrants were promised work and other solutions to their problems, he said in a news conference, adding that the migrants were transported to Martha’s Vineyard for a “video op.”

The main point of contact and source of information in opening this investigation, Salazar said, has been Massachusetts immigration attorney Rachel Self.

Self tells WBZ she has been at Joint Base Cape Cod all day Monday working with the migrants, many of whom she represents.

Sheriff Salazar is a Democrat, elected into his position in Texas in 2016. In a news conference, he called the transport of these migrants at “best, a tragedy, and at worst, a crime.” He told reporters he is open to working with other investigative agencies. Part of the next step will be getting firsthand accounts from migrants.

Salazar told reporters the migrants were in the U.S. legally at the time they were taken, potentially fleeing for fear of persecution in Venezuela and seeking asylum in the U.S. “When you are playing with human lives…that does tend to bother me quite a bit,” he said.

WBZ will update this story as it gathers more information.