MATTHEWS: What Democrats losing their minds over migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard tells us

Immigrants gather with their belongings outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Wednesday Sept. 14, 2022, in Edgartown, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday flew two planes of immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration's failed border policies. (Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette via AP)

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sparked outrage among the Usual Suspects on the left and in the media when they bused/flew migrants bound for their states to so-called “sanctuary” communities like VP Kamala Harris’ Washington, D.C. residence and Martha’s Vineyard respectively. 

The popular red state governors made their moves just days after Harris did an interview on national TV, where she declared the southern border to be “secure.” 

It’s most definitely not “secure,” as the busloads and planeloads of border-crossing migrants that the Biden administration dumps on already-overwhelmed Texas and Florida cities on any given day of the week and oftentimes without advance warning attests. 

In response to Abbott’s and DeSantis’ actions, the accusations that they were “playing politics” and were engaging in “reprehensible” conduct were swift, with some including California Gov. Gavin Newsom calling it a “disgrace” and demanding the Dept. of Justice investigate both governors on alleged “kidnapping” grounds. Twice-failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said their actions “literally” amounted to “human trafficking.” 

Such charges are of course ridiculous, but their reactions have been a remarkable case study in what happens when Democrat virtue-signaling about the supposed benefits of open borders gets put to the test. 

Despite the fact that Martha’s Vineyard openly bills itself as a safe and welcoming place for illegal immigrants, within 24-48 hours upon the migrants’ arrival, the affluent white liberals on the posh Massachusetts island were hurriedly putting them on buses and sending them off to a Cape Cod military base with the help of the state National Guard. 

President Biden, meanwhile, was said to have been scrambling members of his cabinet together to explore “litigation options” against DeSantis and Abbott for doing exactly what Joe Biden has been doing for well over a year now to states like Texas, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania except on a far more widespread scale: dumping migrants on local leaders and telling them to handle it. 

In response to the wave of criticism that hit both Abbott and DeSantis, particularly DeSantis since he’s viewed by Democrats as a potential threat to Biden’s reelection chances in 2024, the popular Florida governor noted that it was rather interesting that of all the major issues that have happened at the southern border since he’s been president — including actual human trafficking and fentanyl smuggling, the only time Joe Biden was quick to publicly condemn and then take swift action was when around 50 migrants were sent to the backyards of rich, white Democrats. 

“It’s only when you have 50 illegal aliens end up in a wealthy rich sanctuary enclave that he (Biden) decides to scramble on this,” DeSantis said during a Friday press conference. 

To reiterate a point my fellow conservatives and I have made ever since Abbott put his charter bus policy for migrants in place back in April, Democrats don’t have any issues whatsoever telling border states to just “deal with” the tens of thousands of migrants who pour across the border each month, but don’t you dare give blue states a taste of what it’s like. 

If anyone is “playing politics” here with the lives of illegal immigrants, it’s the same Democrats who are perfectly okay with open borders and who say that they have no issues living next to illegal immigrants, but who immediately clutch pearls when it actually starts happening in their neck of the woods. 

This is commonly known as NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard), where a group of people advocate for something seen as unpleasant but necessary but who then balk at the idea that it could happen near them. It’s ugly, but it’s just who Democrats are on issues like these. At long last, their masks have been ripped off. 

North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.