WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department's Inspector General is looking into whether federal money was misused to help fund the recent migrant flight Florida chartered to send migrants from Texas to Massachusetts.
The Treasury's IG confirmed the probes into Florida's funding of the flights in letters to Massachusetts Senators and Representatives. Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, was the final destination of the migrants Florida paid to move from Texas through Florida.
"As part of its oversight responsibilities for the SLFRF, TIG has audit work planned on recipients’ compliance with eligible use guidance," the Treasury IG said in a letter. "In addition, as part of our oversight work of the Coronavirus Relief Fund established by the CARES Act, we have already sought information from Florida about appropriate use of that fund."
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Specifically, the IG will "review the allowability of use of SLFRF (State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund) funds related to immigration generally, and will specifically confirm whether interest earned on SLFRF funds was utilized by Florida related to immigration activities, and if so, what conditions and limitations apply to such use."
“I applaud the swift response from the Treasury’s Office of the Inspector General," Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey said in a statement. "For the sake of the migrants who were lured onto charter planes under false pretenses, and for the commendable Commonwealth residents who rallied together to offer support, I hope that this investigation sheds light on whether Governor DeSantis misused funds that were intended for COVID relief for Floridians.”
The Treasury Department said it would get the probe underway as "quickly as possible" and that it would be monitoring "legislative and judicial challenges to the use of the funds for this purpose; such developments may affect the scope and timing of our review."
Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration have repeatedly defended the funding and legality of the September flights. DeSantis has not said if there would be more flights but didn't rule them out.
Read the full letter below:
