Martha’s Vineyard Migrants Are Moved From Billionaire Enclave To Cape Cod Military Base



Illegal immigrants who were flown in unannounced to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday are now being moved to a military base in Cape Cod.

The 50 migrants have been put on buses by Gov. Charlie Baker to travel the 32 miles to Joint Base in Cape Cod (JBCC) just 48 hours after they landed in the billionaire’s enclave.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew in the immigrants from Venezuela on Wednesday, sparking a widespread cry of outrage from the liberal leaders of the small island in Massachusetts.

It was declared a humanitarian emergency, with the island leaders responding in the same way as a hurricane.

On Friday morning three buses pulled up outside of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown to take the mostly Venezuelan migrants on the first leg of their journey.

They will be travelling from the elite island of billionaires with holiday mansions – including multi-million homes owned by the Obama’s and Oprah – to the military base on the mainland, escorted by police. 

Lisa Belcastro, a homelessness director in the area said on Thursday that the island cannot support the migrants – where the median home price is nearly $1m- because it is facing a shortage of affordable housing.

The median house in Martha’s Vineyard is worth almost $800,000, according to the census, and the median household income is $77,370 – well above the national average of $67,521.

She told reporters that at ‘some point they have to move somewhere else’, because the island is suffering from a ‘housing crisis’.

The JBCC joint-use base home to five military commands training for missions at home and overseas, conducting airborne search and rescue missions, and intelligence command and control.

The 50 migrants who arrived at Martha’s Vineyard are now being shipped off on a 32 mile trip to a military base in Cape Cod on Friday

Gov. Charlie Baker made the decision to move the illegal immigrants just 48 hours after they landed in the billionaire’s enclave, with some residents reportedly left reeling 

The JBCC joint-use base home to five military commands training for missions at home and overseas, and was used as a hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic

Baker said in a statement: ‘JBCC is a facility already designated by MEMA as an emergency shelter in Barnstable County, and its existing infrastructure provides a safe temporary accommodation appropriate for the needs of families and individuals.

‘Additionally, the facility can provide dedicated space for access to legal services and other essential services such as basic healthcare.’

He confirmed that the migrants will be living in ‘dormitory-style spaces’ at the base, and families will not be separated.

Baker added that it has previously been used as a shelter for those impacted by Hurricane Katrina, and was home to a field hospital when the COVID pandemic started.

He is also activating 125 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to help with the relief efforts, with police escorting the buses to the ferry port on the island Friday morning. 

According to Baker, Martha’s Vineyard, with a population of 15,000, is ‘not equipped to provide sustainable accommodation’ to the migrants.

They were all ordered to get on buses for the hour and a half trip from the island to Cape Cod. 

Jhorman Cuicas, one of the migrants, told The MV Times he wished that he could stay. 

They were all ordered to get on buses for the hour and a half trip from the island to the military base in Cape Codm where they will be given ‘dormitory-style’ accomodation