A lawyer and a sheriff help Martha’s Vineyard migrants get a ‘bit of justice’

After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) flew dozens of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, immigration lawyer Rachel Self rushed to the church where the group was staying. Soon she was inundated with phone calls.

The owner of a local seafood company offered to employ the new arrivals. Reporters left dozens of messages. Anonymous callers threatened violence. As quickly as she emptied her voice mail, Self said, it filled up again. Offers of help, reporters, threats.

One caller stood out: a man who introduced himself as Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County in Texas. He said he understood she had ties to the migrants. He wanted to explore whether the way they had been recruited onto the planes made them victims of a crime.

Self was intrigued but suspicious: After they spoke for the first time, she asked the sheriff to email her to make sure that he was who he said he was. He did, copying senior members of his staff, including the chief of his organized crime unit.

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