SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Texas sheriff has certified as crime victims 49 migrants flown from San Antonio to Massachusetts.
In a statement, ACLU Massachusetts said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar’s certifications allow the migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard on Sept. 14 to apply for special U-visas.
Such visas would allow the migrants to remain in the U.S. lawfully as Salazar’s department conducts a criminal investigation of the circumstances that took them to New England.
In a separate statement, Salazar said the migrants may have been victims of misdemeanor unlawful restraint and that suspects have been identified. He has not released the suspects’ identities.
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS