MSNBC guest calls on DOJ to charge DeSantis, Abbott with 'kidnapping' of migrants

During a Sunday night panel on MSNBC’s "Mehdi Hasan Show," The Nation reporter Elie Mystal called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge Republican governors Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott with kidnapping.

Abbott has for months sent buses of migrants from Texas to Democratic strongholds across the country, and DeSantis set off a liberal uproar last week when he flew migrants from Florida to the ritzy enclave of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The pair argue that Democrats far from the border aren't taking the immigration crisis seriously.

Hasan discussed the recent actions by Republican governors with a panel that included Mystal with a chyron that said "Republicans double down on racist busing stunts." The host asked the Nation reporter and frequent MSNBC guest if the busing of migrants by DeSantis and Abbott was legal under state and federal law.

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"First I don’t want to give people false hope. Not every evil, sadistic, twisted, bigoted, racist thing these people do is illegal," Mystal began. "Some of those evil, sadistic, racist, bigoted things are just allowed in this country."

Mystal went on to assert that America has long "cut its teeth" on the forced or coerced relocation of non-White citizens throughout history. He also disagreed with President Biden’s comments in which he labeled DeSantis and Abbott’s actions as "un-American."

"Sorry Mr. President, this is strangely American – using non-White people, weaponizing them, and carting them around the country, this is what this country has done in the past."

The Nation reporter also pointed to reports that the migrants were sent to Martha’s Vineyard with "false promises," an aspect of the story that Mystal felt was a violation of federal kidnapping statutes. He then added that it is not DeSantis or Abbott that need to understand the legal ramifications of their actions, but rather Garland. 

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"We need Merrick Garland once again to understand that and bring the full weight and power of the federal government down on these people," he said. 

Lawyers representing migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard called for the federal government and the state of Massachusetts to open criminal probes into DeSantis on Sunday.

Lawyers for Civil Rights, a legal organization representing roughly 30 of the Martha's Vineyard migrants, says DeSantis and those working with him "induced" migrants to board the planes under "false pretenses." Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist joined the call during a Thursday appearance on CNN, saying that "laws may have been broken."

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Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.