Martha’s Vineyard Homelessness Director Says Illegal Immigrants ‘Have to Move Somewhere Else’

Illegal immigrants gather, after being flown in from Texas on a flight funded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., on Sept. 15, 2022. (Vineyard Gazette/Handout via Reuters)

Lisa Belcastro, the director of the Harbor Homes shelter on Martha’s Vineyard, said the Massachusetts island is in a “housing crisis” and cannot permanently deal with 50 illegal immigrants who were sent there by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In a video with reporters on Thursday, Belcastro said that “at some point in time they have to move somewhere else” because the island—often visited by the wealthy and powerful—has a problem with housing.

“We certainly don’t have housing, we’re in a housing crisis as we are on this island. We can’t house everyone here who lives here and works here. We don’t have housing for 50 more people,” she said.

After her comments were published on social media, Belcastro’s remarks were panned by some political commentators as they claimed hypocrisy.

“We literally have everything we need. I mean we need for all of our guests to get the help they need to be in this country and safe and housing,” Belcastro added. “That’s not something that we can do here at the shelter, right? We’re a stop-gap. This is an emergency shelter. We are not long-term care.”

A spokesperson for Harbor Homes told The Epoch Times Friday that Belcastro had “worked in conjunction with Community Services and various inter-faith churches to mobilize a shelter and coordinate volunteer services” for the illegal immigrants.

They “were provided with housing, food, clothing, and medical services,” the spokesperson added. “Despite the affordable housing crisis facing Martha’s Vineyard, the migrants were welcomed and cared for by the community.”

DeSantis Responds

Belcastro then criticized DeSantis, a Republican, for sending the illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard.

But DeSantis and other Republican governors say the surge of illegal immigration is largely due to the Biden administration’s policies. The White House, he said, is refusing to secure the U.S.–Mexico border.

“We take what is happening at the southern border very seriously, unlike some, and unlike the President of the United States, who has refused to lift a finger to secure that border,” DeSantis said during a press event Thursday. “You’ve had millions and millions of people pouring across illegally; record amount of fentanyl coming into our country; it is absolutely killing Americans in record numbers; of course you have criminal aliens.”

“Just the sheer number of people, it’s not the way you run a country,” he declared, adding a significant number of people—not just illegal immigrants—want to move to Florida.

The governor added that because of the desire to move to Florida, his “message to them is that we are not a sanctuary state, and it’s better to be able to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction,” adding the state “will help facilitate that transport for you to be able to go to greener pastures.”

Meanwhile, he charged the Biden administration is secretly flying illegal immigrants from the U.S.–Mexico border to other parts of the country.

“And all of those people in D.C. and New York were beating their chests when Trump was president, saying they were so proud to be sanctuary jurisdictions, saying how bad it was to have a secure border,” DeSantis said. “The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they all of a sudden go berserk and they’re so upset that this is happening. It just shows you their virtue-signaling is a fraud.”