Newsom Asks Merrick Garland to Consider ‘Kidnapping’ Charges Over GOP Governors Busing Migrants

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is wading into the controversy around Republican governors busing and flying migrants to other parts of the country. This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott…

Bradley CortrightSep 16, 20223 min read

Read the letter below:

From a purely political standpoint, the decision to bus and fly migrants to other parts of the country is genius.

The move led Democrat politicians who accused Republicans of being xenophobic to admit that there is a finite amount of resources to address migrant influxes. That is the same situation in border states.

It is also hard to argue that it’s unfair because these jurisdictions did not have advanced notice of their arrival. Texas and Arizona do not really get a heads-up when migrants cross the border. While Democratic leaders warn about the strain on resources, they cannot explain why Texas and Arizona deserve — merely because of their proximity to the border — to face the same strain.

But looking at the human aspect of this, it’s not good to treat people as pawns and fly them across the country and then say, “OK, well, you’re on your own now. See you never!” And it’s especially not good if it turns out the migrants were falsely promised assistance that they never receive.

These are people and, regardless of how they entered the country, they have inherent dignity, and no one should be treated like objects or tools in a political game.

There is also another issue. While we’re so divided as a country, these migrant flights and bus trips are starting to pit states against each other. Now Newsom is suggesting that there should be kidnapping charges.

None of this can be good for interstate cooperation or to help heal divisions. It will have to be awkward if there are any meetings or calls with Republican governors and Newsom if he is pushing for kidnapping charges for those involved in the migrant transportation plots.

Yes, the transportation of migrants makes a point and puts pressure on lawmakers to come up with a solution to the Immigration issue. But there could be a real cost to how we view our fellow states and citizens, especially if there is no change to Immigration laws in the end.