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The sheriff of Bexar County, Texas is recommending criminal charges against those involved with flights that sent 49 mostly Venezuelan migrants from El Paso to Martha’s Vineyard last year, what was widely derided as a political stunt orchestrated by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. A statement from the sheriff’s office says it has completed an investigation launched last September and recommended several counts of unlawful restraint, both misdemeanors and felonies, to the office of the Bexar County district attorney. “At this time, the case is being reviewed by the DA’s office. Once an update is available, it will be provided to the public,” the statement said. The sheriff’s office has not named suspects. The flights faced international scrutiny following allegations that migrants and their families, who were in the country with legal permission, were deceptively lured into planes out of state after they were processed in the US after crossing the southern border with Mexico, with their asylum cases pending in Texas. “What infuriates me the most about this case is that here we have 48 people who are already on hard times, they are here legally in the country at that point,” sheriff Javier Salazar said in a statement announcing the investigation last year. “They have every right to be where they are, and I believe they were preyed upon – somebody came from out of state, preyed upon these people, lured them with promises of a better life, which is what they were absolutely looking for, with the knowledge that they were going to cling to whatever hope they could be offered ... to just be exploited and hoodwinked into making this trip,” he said. A federal lawsuit filed by attorneys for a group of migrants last year alleges that the DeSantis administration supervised a “fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” to collect migrants and fly them, unannounced, hundreds of miles out of state. The lawsuit alleges the governor and members of his administration targeted immigrants who were recently released from shelters with false promises of job opportunities, education and financial assistance before they landed on the island with only volunteer support from local groups and emergency assistance from state agencies. The lawsuit includes two unnamed defendants who “targeted” many of the people who boarded the flights, as well as three other unnamed defendants who participated in the alleged scheme, who “manipulated them, stripped them of their dignity, deprived them of their liberty, bodily autonomy, due process and equal protection under the law,” according to the complaint. Those allegations mirror claims from migrants who spoke with reporters about the ordeal, including multiple allegations that a woman identified only as “Perla” was central to an alleged effort to coerce migrants to board the planes, providing cash and McDonald’s gift cards to help recruit others. Mr DeSantis has taken credit for the flight, and his administration has supported legislative efforts to secure $12m in funding for similar operations. The administration has spent more than $1.5m on such flights, according to state records. The sheriff’s announcement follows more migrant flights from Texas to California, which California Attorney General Rob Bonta has likened to “state-sanctioned kidnapping.” Officials and civil rights attorneys are investigating whether the DeSantis administration was also behind those flights; Mr Bonta has stated that the migrants had what appeared to be Florida government documents. “We are also evaluating potential criminal or civil action against those who transported or arranged for the transport of these vulnerable immigrants,” he said in a statement this week. “While we continue to collect evidence, I want to say this very clearly: State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a public policy choice, it is immoral and disgusting.” The Independent has requested comment from the DeSantis administration. Read More DeSantis news – latest: Casey DeSantis nicknamed ‘Walmart Melania’ over anti-woke leather jacket California officials probe ‘state-sanctioned kidnapping’ of migrants flown in on private jet False promises, a legal investigation and a mystery woman: Unanswered questions about Ron DeSantis's migrant flights

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A group of Republican members of Congress are invoking Noah’s Ark and an obscure legal theory to defend Texas governor Greg Abbott’s controversial floating border wall in the Rio Grande, after the Justice Department sued the state and claimed the barrier violates federal law. On Wednesday, a delegation led by US Representative Jodey Arrington of Texas, alongside the Texas Public Policy Foundation, filed an amicus brief in federal court, arguing the Department of Justice is mistaken to argue that the 1,900-mile Rio Grande, the fourth largest river in North America, is a navigable waterway under the definition of federal regulations. The brief argues that an 1870 court case defines navigable waterways as those used in interstate or international commerce. “Indeed, if one takes the Book of Genesis literally, then the entire world was once navigable by boats large enough to carry significant amounts of livestock,” the brief reads. “Under the federal government’s theory, these anecdotes would render any structure built anywhere in Texas an obstruction to navigation subject to federal regulation.” Last month, echoing the arguments from Mr Abbott, Representative Arrington argued that Texas is under “invasion” by drug cartels, so the US Constitutional authorises emergency, military-style action like deploying national guardsmen and building border barriers without federal permission. “The sovereign states created the federal government,” he said, “not the other way around. When the states entered into that social contract of the Constitution of the United States, they may have ceded some of their authority to the central government but they didn’t surrender their sovereignty.” Legal experts told The Independent that this interpretation of the Constitution’s “Invasion Clause” is mistaken and has previously been struck down in federal immigration cases. Last month, the Biden administration sued Governor Abbott, arguing his plan to install thousands of feet of saw-tipped border barriers in the middle of the Rio Grande violating the federal Rivers and Harbors Act by failing to seek permission to build from the US Army Corps of Engineers. The river barrier is also facing a state lawsuit from a river guide named Jessie Fuentes. “You’ve taken a beautiful waterway and you’ve converted it into a war zone,” he told The Independentlast month. Other Texas members of Congress have criticised the border barriers, arguing they are putting already vulnerable migrants at greater risk of death or serious injury. “Today was eye-opening,” Rep Sylvia Garcia of Texas wrote on X this week during a border visit, sharing a video of the orange buoys used in the Rio Grande which are separated with blade saw-like barbed disks. “Seeing the barbaric, inhumane, and ungodly practices in my home state of Texas. This is beyond politics and crosses a line into human rights violations.” Read More Greg Abbott slammed by Texas lawmakers for ‘cruel’ floating border barriers with ‘chainsaw devices’ How governor Greg Abbott is using an obscure ‘invasion’ legal theory for a border power grab in Texas Buoys, razor wire, and a Trump-y wall: How Greg Abbott turned the Rio Grande into an immigration ‘war zone’ Up-close look at buoys with saw-like barbed metal used in Rio Grande Greg Abbott slammed for ‘cruel’ floating border barriers with ‘chainsaw devices’ Texas separates migrant families, detaining fathers on trespassing charges in latest border move