About

2022 Martha's Vineyard Migrant Drop-Off refers to a September 2022 event in which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis flew 50 immigrants, mostly from Venezuela, to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts from Texas to house them, support them and give them jobs. The decision sparked controversy, ultimately leading to the migrants leaving the island for a military base at Cape Cod and seeking legal consultation. Additionally, former U.S. President Barack Obama and his family were tied into the memetic discourse due to their home there. Texas Governor Greg Abbott also bussed migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, D.C. Hashtags, such as #MarthasVineyardRacists, trended amid the Twitter discourse as well through memes that related the white, liberal residents of Martha's Vineyard to racists, however, rebuttals were levied that championed the Edgartown residents' empathy and support.

DeSantis' decision is part of a larger strategy started by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in which conservative state governments send migrants to blue cities in an attempt to either garner publicity for themselves or to put pressure on elected officials and public infrastructure in those areas.

History

Texas Migrant Bussing

Since the spring of 2022, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has pursued a policy of bussing people arriving in his state from other countries to Washington, DC and New York City. Since the spring Texas has bussed over 10,000 people to these locations, including symbolic places such as the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, the official residence of the Vice President.^[15]

Martha's Vineyard

On September 14th, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis flew 50 Venezuelan migrants on two planes from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts (Edgartown, MA).^[1] According to Senator Julian Cyr, the representative of Martha’s Vineyard, there was no advance notice to anyone in Martha’s Vineyard or Massachusetts that the migrants were arriving.^[1]

On September 15th, 2022, DeSantis took credit for the event, stating, "We are not a sanctuary state, and it’s better to be able to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction, and yes, we will help facilitate that transport for you to be able to go to greener pastures … Every community in America should be sharing in the burdens. It shouldn’t all fall on a handful of red states."^[1] DeSantis' decision was related to other red state governors shipping migrants elsewhere in 2022, for instance, on September 15th, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, D.C.^[2] According to reporting from Politico,^[13] the conservative governors were reacting to President Biden's immigration policies.

Over the course of 48 hours, the Venezuelan migrants at Martha's Vineyard were eventually moved off the island to a military base, Joint Base Cape Cod.^[3] Most of them had fled their country due to conflict and cartel violence.^[3] Additionally, the White House condemned DeSantis' decision. Legal concerns were evident as immigration lawyers and observers determined if DeSantis and Abbott broke any laws.^[4]

Ultimately, the thought process of determining its legality revolved around a few ideas; one, the migrants were already in immigration limbo; two, it’s legal for states to transport migrants but the drop-offs raised questions; and three, nonprofit organizations have helped migrants pay for flights and buses to join friends and relatives around the United States in the past. However, when former President Donald Trump’s administration considered participating in migrant drop-offs in liberal-oriented cities, it was ultimately scrapped after it was rejected by Matthew Albence, the deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who raised concerns about liability issues if a migrant was injured during transport.^[4] Additionally, critics of the recent migrant drop-offs made comparisons to the so-called Reverse Freedom Rides^[5] arranged by white segregationists in 1962 to retaliate against those protesting segregation in the South.^[4]

Online Reactions

On September 15th, 2022, multiple reactions surfaced on Twitter. Many of them dealt with information that the migrants were deceived to by Governor DeSantis. For instance, on September 15th, Twitter^[6] user jaxcarys tweeted a screenshot of a private message she received from a friend who lived in Martha's Vineyard, claiming that the migrants were told they were headed to Boston, where there were going to be housed and where jobs waiting for them. Over the course of four days, the tweet received roughly 189,900 likes (shown below).

After the migrants were taken off the island to the Cape Cod military base, the people of Martha's Vineyard were criticized by some conservative pundits online. For instance, on September 16th, 2022, Twitter^[7] user ARmastrangelo satirically tweeted, "Martha’s Vineyard set a beautiful example for the nation. They used the military to deport every last illegal migrant from their island in less than 48 hours," gaining roughly 50,900 likes in three days (shown below, left). Many liberal pundits then rebutted the backlash. For instance, on September 17th, Twitter^[8] user RobertCap10 claimed, "The people of Martha's Vineyard fed, clothed & took care of these legal refugees. Then Charlie Baker moved them to a better shelter on Cape Cod where Massachusetts continues to show them empathy," gaining roughly 19,300 likes in two days (shown below, right).

On September 17th, 2022, the TikTok^[9] page of the Miami Herald posted a video showing a Martha's Vineyard resident being emotional as the migrants left the island, gaining roughly 626,200 plays and 19,600 likes in two days (shown below, left). The TikTok received humorous criticism due to the woman's aesthetic signifiers of wealth juxtaposed with who she was waving goodbye to. For instance, on September 18th, TikToker^[10] momofjoshandcc posted a Stitch with the video, mimicking and mocking the woman's movements. The video received roughly 857,100 plays and 33,600 likes in one day (shown below, right).

#MarthasVineyardRacists Hashtag

After the migrants were moved off Martha's Vineyard, many conservative pundits and supporters of Governor DeSantis used the hashtag "#MarthasVineyardRacists" to associate the mostly white, liberal residents of Martha's Vineyard as "racist" for not holding the immigrants for more than 48 hours on their island. The hashtag was used in RobertCap10's tweet^[8] but also earnestly by some conservative Twitter^[11][12] users who used it to caption memes.

Kamala Harris Bus Meme

Along similar lines to DeSantis, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has pursued a strategy of sending migrants to liberal locations and dropping them off. On September 17th, 2022, Abbott sent a busload of immigrants to the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris.]

In response to these events, some right-leaning meme-makers repurposed footage of Kamala Harris reacting to the unveiling of her 2020 campaign bus, joking that she might react the same way to the bus full of migrants. For example, a meme (seen below) showing a caricatured man in a mariachi costume emerging from the bus was posted by @capitaiztpigs on September 16th, 2022, earning almost 40 likes in a week.^[16]

One of the people who shared this meme was Benny Johnson, a former Buzzfeed journalist ousted for plagiarism who then become a rightwing influencer and writer.^[17] Johnson shared a video of him giving a presentation at the University of Iowa which included the meme above.^[18] during the presentation, a student attending the event approached the projector showing the meme and kicked it, leading Benny Johnson to post that he was a "meme attack survivor." Johnson, likely seeing a marketing opportunity in the controversy, went on to heavily promote the incident, posting a "Super SLOW MO Instant Replay" and updating his Twitter bio to reflect his self-given "meme attack survivor" status.^[19]

Various Reactions and Memes

Search Interest

External References