Texas sheriff investigating DeSantis says Americans should 'embrace' migrant surge, give them jobs

DeSantis for sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, who opened a criminal investigation this week into migrant flights to Martha's Vineyard, said Tuesday that the solution to the ongoing migrant crisis is to open up more legal pathways for people to come to the United States. .

Salazar, a Democrat, said that some migrants should be denied if the vetting process determines that they have a "criminal" or "terrorist" background. .

"But people who just want to do a hard day’s work for a hard day’s pay – bring them on in and let’s put them to work," he told CNN.

Salazar opened a criminal investigation this week into two flights of 48 migrants who he says were "lured" from the Migrant Resource Center in San Antonio and boarded a plane to Martha's Vineyard "under false pretenses." .

Illegal immigrants arrive at Martha's Vineyard Airport on Wednesday, Sept

Ron DeSantis, whose administration organized the flights, denied that the migrants were promised jobs and said that they were given "multiple" opportunities to decline the trip. 

Democrats have harshly criticized last week's flights and the bussing of thousands of migrants by Texas Gov

Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., echoed Salazar's comments on Tuesday, saying that if "we have legal processes, people would use those legal processes."

"We have continued to increase money at the border, but we haven’t done it by also fixing the legal immigration system and providing people the opportunity and ways to come here legally," Jayapal told CNN. 

"I haven't heard a peep about all the people that have been told by Biden [migrants] can just come in — and they're going, they're being abused by the cartels