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Here’s where the MV migrants have wound up settled in Mass.

Several of the migrants now reside around the South Shore and Cape Cod; some have chosen to return to Martha's Vineyard.

Migrants who had been flown to Martha's Vineyard are taken to a bus for a ferry to the mainland in Edgartown, Mass., Sept. 16, 2022. Matt Cosby/The New York Times

By Abby Patkin

October 17, 2022

Since their unexpected arrival last month — and following a brief stay at Joint Base Cape Cod — 47 of the Martha’s Vineyard migrants have found housing in Massachusetts.

“They are now living in Lowell, Brockton, Stoughton, Provincetown, and other towns on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard,” Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), confirmed in an email to Boston.com. The non-profit legal organization is representing several of the migrants.

Martha's Vineyard migrants:

One family moved into a state-provided apartment in Lowell, according to The Boston Globe. Several migrants have received free housing in South Shore homeless shelters, while others are guests in private homes on Cape Cod, the newspaper reported.

Some of the migrants are working to enroll their children in public schools or secure work authorization; most are looking for long-term housing, Espinoza-Madrigal told the Globe.

“We expect those individuals to have more opportunities available to them as they continue in their journey, particularly securing immigration protection and relief,” he said.

Two of the 49 migrants have moved to New York, according to the Globe.

Last week, the Texas sheriff leading an investigation into the migrants’ transport from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard certified that the migrants were all victims of a crime.

The certifications from Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar’s office open the door for the migrants to apply for U-visas, special visas only available to victims of certain crimes. Salazar previously asserted that the migrants were lured onto the flights under false pretenses.

LCR also filed a class action lawsuit last month against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who took credit for the flights — and other “accomplices.”

Documents released on Friday show that top staffers in the DeSantis administration, including Chief of Staff James Uthmeier, were directly involved in the transport, Politico reported.

In the two weeks leading up to the flights, Uthmeier sent texts and had phone calls with Larry Keefe, Florida’s public safety czar, according to Politico. The messages make it clear that Keefe was on the ground in Texas to help coordinate the flights — with Uthmeier’s full support, the news outlet reported.

“Wheels up,” Keefe reportedly texted Uthmeier the day of the first flight to Martha’s Vineyard.