We may finally know the identity of the mysterious โPerlaโ who, Venezuelan asylum seekers toldย news outlets, lured them in with promises of opportunities, only to trick them into flying to Marthaโs Vineyard.
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For weeks, reports have flooded in from the dozens of Venezuelan asylum seekers who say they were tricked into boarding flights from San Antonio, Texas to Massachusetts as a part of a program spearheaded by Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. And while DeSantis obviously bears a lot of responsibility here, itโs clear he had help.
Enter โPerla,โ a shadowy figure who, migrants told the New York Times, offered them a free flight, free food, and a free place to stay at the LaQuinta hotel only for them to find out everything wasnโt as it seemed.
On Sunday, the New York Times identified โPerla,โ who only ever gave migrants her first-name, as Perla Huerta, a former combat medic and counterintelligence agent who was discharged from the US Army in August.
According to The New York Times, a person familiar with the sheriffsโ investigation into the flight scandal first identified Huerta as a part of that investigation. The New York Timesย says itย later confirmed her identity with a migrant who says Huerta โhad unsuccessfully sought toโ sign her up for the โfree flightโ program.
According to the New York Times, her instincts were right. Migrants who took Huerta up on her offer to stay at LaQuinta were handed an โapparently fakeโ refugee brochure reportedly riddled with inaccuracies, according to the Times.
For starters the Massachusetts โflagโ tucked under the words โMassachusetts Welcomes You,โ on the brochure was inaccurate. And so-called refugee benefits offered in the pamphlet didnโt apply to the Venezuelan asylum seekers in San Antonio, according to The New York Times.
Upon their arrival in Marthaโs Vineyard, things continued to fall apart. Accounts from another migrant, identified as Jose, who spoke to the Washington Post, illustrates the absolute chaos among the migrants upon realizing theyโd been tricked.
โPeople wanted to run away,โ Jose told the Washington Post. However once they had a moment to look at the map, they realized โwe were surrounded by pure water.โ
As awful as these accounts are, the New York Times story is likely just the beginning in our emerging understanding of what happened and whoโs responsible for the dozens of migrants left stranded in Massachusetts.
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