Less than two days after roughly 50 migrants sent by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arrived in Martha’s Vineyard, they’ve been shipped off to a military base, after local residents and officials complained they lacked the resources to house the group.
SO WHAT
It seems like the wealthy liberal enclave and its pro-immigrant populace more than had the infrastructure to support the group.
THE PEOPLE OF MARTHA’S VINEYARD
Martha’s Vineyard residents gathered Friday to bid farewell to the migrants bound for Joint Base Cape Cod, amid claims from Democratic politicians and liberal talking heads that DeSantis had provoked a “humanitarian crisis.”
Critics on social media argued the Martha’s Vineyard residents’ public shows of affection for the departing migrants perfectly captured the NIMBY-ism of affluent liberal elites. Here’s why:
- The average annual household income in Dukes County, where Martha’s Vineyard is located, is $135,534.
- In the 2020 election, 78% of Martha’s Vineyard residents voted for then-candidate Joe Biden, who characterized former President Trump’s hardline immigration enforcement policies as an ” assault on our values and our history as a nation of immigrants.”
- An annual town meeting article asks officials in each of Martha’s Vineyards six island towns to “refrain from using town funds and/or resources to enforce federal immigration laws” unless it’s a criminal matter, according to the Vineyard Gazette.
“In our facility, we have a standing order that states that any request for voluntary action from ICE, we will not uphold,” Dukes County sheriff Robert Ogden told the Gazette in 2017.
THE HOUSES OF MARTHA’S VINEYARD
Conservatives have accused the liberal community of failing to live up to its pro-immigrant ideals, noting the abundance of spacious celebrity vacation homes, which could be used to house the migrants.
- 55% of homes on Martha’s Vineyard are seasonal vacation homes, meaning they are empty much of the year.
President Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard home:
Value: $11.75 million
Square footage: 6,892
Number of rooms: 7
Acres: 29.3
Jackie Kennedy’s former Martha’s Vineyard estate:
Value: $65 million
Square footage: 6,456 (main residence only)
Number of rooms:5 bedrooms
Acres: 340
Meg Ryan’s Martha’s Vineyard home:
Value: $9.125 million
Square footage: 6,600
Number of rooms: 7 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Acres: 5+
Actress Amy Brenneman and director Brad Silberling’s Martha’s Vineyard home:
Value: $4.3 million
Number of rooms: 5 bedrooms
John Kerry’s Martha’s Vineyard home
Value: $11.75 million
Number of rooms: 7
Acres: 18.5
Carly Simon’s Martha’s Vineyard home:
Value: $5 milion
Square footage: 5,000 sq ft
Number of rooms: 5
Acres: 27
THE KICKER
In an interview with Fox News Digital this weekend, Martha’s Vineyard resident “Z” Leach said the island “is not the best place for them [the migrants] to start fresh.”
“There’s no place to live here,” she said. “Housing is bad.”