Despite reports, group of migrants does not arrive in Delaware

GEORGETOWN — Prior to a plane from Texas arriving at Delaware Coastal Airport on Tuesday, elected officials and several community organizations prepared for the possible arrival of a group of migrants.

According to FlightAware flight tracker, the aircraft was originally scheduled to depart from East Texas Regional Airport at 6:48 a.m. ET for Kelly Field Airport in San Antonio, Texas. From there, it was scheduled to depart at 9 a.m. for Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview, Florida, where the flight was planned to again take off, bound for Georgetown, with an estimated time of arrival of 1:32 p.m.

The plane scheduled for the flight, Ultimate Air Shuttle UE 11, was the same one employed on Sept. 14 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who sent two aircraft carrying 48 undocumented migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. On Monday, a Texas sheriff announced that he had opened an investigation into those Sept. 14 flights.

Though the Tuesday flight was scheduled to arrive in Georgetown, its routes changed, and it departed for John C. Tune Airport in Nashville, Tennessee, at 2:32 p.m. As of Tuesday evening, the flight was scheduled to take off from Nashville at 4:32 p.m. and arrive at Teterboro (New Jersey) Airport at 6:29 p.m., though it is unknown if any migrants were onboard.

Prior to the plane’s scheduled departure from Texas on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Gov. John Carney, Emily David Hershman, said the office had begun preparation for the potential arrival of the group.

“We’re aware of the reports and continue to prepare for the possibility of migrants arriving in Delaware unannounced,” Ms. Hershman said. “Our teams at (the Delaware Emergency Management Agency) and (the Department of Health and Social Services) are working with community organizations and other partners to make sure that migrants who arrive here have the support that they need. We are coordinating with federal officials and are prepared to welcome these families in an orderly manner as they pursue their asylum claims.”

The potential arrival of migrants in the First State comes in the midst of ongoing conflict between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Gov. DeSantis and Democratic leaders over border security. In recent weeks, migrants have been transported from Texas to cities including Washington, D.C., Chicago and New York City.

At a press conference Tuesday in Bradenton, Florida, Gov. DeSantis was asked about the validity of the reports of migrants being transported to Delaware. He said he could not confirm them.

Despite that, Gov. DeSantis defended the move to send migrants to “sanctuary jurisdictions,” stating that, because migrants do not enter Florida in mass movements, “there’s no way you could possibly track all (of them).” He supported the diversion of migrants to sanctuary jurisdictions because the “chance they end up in Florida is much less” and criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the border crisis.

“The reality is, when you have the vice president saying there’s no border crisis when we’ve had millions of people come across illegally, you’ve got to be kidding,” Gov. DeSantis said.

“They’ll say, ‘Oh, sending a bus from Texas is a stunt,’ and all this; the biggest stunt was Biden coming in as president and reversing (former President Donald) Trump’s policies, just so he could virtue signal that he was against Trump,” he said.

At the White House on Tuesday, President Biden was asked for his response to reports that Gov. DeSantis flew migrants to Delaware.

“(Gov. DeSantis) should come visit. We have a beautiful shoreline,” the president said.

In the hours prior to the flight’s rearrangement, media huddled in the hallways of the tiny terminal at Delaware Coastal Airport and sprawled across its floors, in a meeting room and at tables in the airport’s restaurant. Representatives for the governor sequestered inside the airport manager’s office, awaiting updates on the flight’s potential arrival.

They began to trickle out of the airport as it became clear no migrants were landing.

Staff reporter Matt McDonald contributed to this story.
Staff writer Joseph Edelen can be reached at jedelen@iniusa.org. Follow @JoeEdelenDSN on Twitter.