Free Republic

Massachusetts Democratic Governor Maura Healey is sounding off about her frustrations with ICE’s latest operations in her state, saying she found it "disturbing" to hear about the arrests of some 40 illegal immigrants in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. ICE, working with several other federal law enforcement agencies, conducted a series of immigration enforcement operations in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard on Tuesday. An ICE statement said "around 40" individuals were arrested as a result of the operations, including an MS-13 gang member and at least one child sex offender. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde...

Two Democrat lawyers called for Congress to block President-elect Donald Trump from taking office in an op-ed published by the Hill on Thursday, prompting disbelief and ridicule from Republicans. In the piece titled “Congress has the power to block Trump from taking office, but lawmakers must act now,” lawyers Evan A. Davis and David M. Schulte argued that the Constitution says an insurrectionist is ineligible to be president and “the evidence of Donald Trump’s engaging in such insurrection is overwhelming.” They argued that the “matter has been decided in three separate forums” — one of which they said was the...

Two Democrat legal experts are calling on Congress to take immediate action to prevent President-elect Donald Trump from taking office, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Evan A. Davis, the former editor in chief of the Columbia Law Review and David M. Schulte, the former editor in chief of the Yale Law Journal, called for Trump’s disqualification in an opinion piece for The Hill, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Davis is a New York City attorney and a former president of the New York City Bar Association. He worked on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee impeachment inquiry...

While residents of western Connecticut were cleaning up from deadly floods this past August, Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes slurped down oysters, pampered herself at a pricey salon and traveled to Martha’s Vineyard and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago — spending nearly $13,000 in the process, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show. The three-term incumbent flew to the Windy City just as her home state was hit with a severe storm on Sunday, Aug. 18, which caused more than $206 million in damages to bridges, roads, businesses and homes due to flooding, mudslides and landslides. More than 100 residents were...

An illegal alien is now accused of raping a child numerous times on Martha’s Vineyard — the elite island off the coast of Massachusetts where the likes of former President Obama and billionaire Oprah Winfrey are known to vacation during the summer. Warley Neto, a 24-year-old illegal alien from Brazil, first crossed the United States-Mexico border near Paso Del Norte, Texas, in March 2018. Just a week later, Neto was given a Notice to Appear (NTA) before a federal immigration judge by Border Patrol and released from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody into the U.S. interior.

The federal government has ordered the Vineyard Wind farm to shut down until further notice because of a turbine blade failure this weekend. Several beaches were closed on Tuesday while crews worked to clean up "large floating debris and fiberglass shards" from the broken wind turbine blade off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. A total of six south shore Nantucket beaches were closed to swimming due to debris that washed ashore. "You can walk on the beaches, however we strongly recommend you wear footwear due to sharp, fiberglass shards and debris on the beaches," the Nantucket Harbormaster said. Vineyard Wind...

From the elegant entryway, to the spectacular views, to the private beach, we’re exploring the special touches in the forever first family's gorgeous estate. When your previous homes are the White House and Camp David, there’s a lot of pressure on your next address. For their post-presidential vacation getaway, Barack and Michelle Obama chose a private, yet beautiful estate that would offer them all the luxury and security they’ve become accustomed to. According to Ebony, beginning with the Shearer Inn in 1912, the Oak Bluffs area has a long history of catering to Black vacationers. Over the years, it became...

Lawyers representing migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard nearly two years ago by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis can sue the charter flight company that transported them to the island off the Massachusetts coast, according to a ruling Monday by a federal judge in Boston. The 50 Venezuelans were sent to Martha’s Vineyard from San Antonio, Texas, and had been promised work and housing opportunities. Under Monday's ruling, the migrants can proceed with their suit against Florida-based Vertol Systems Co., which had agreed to fly them to the island for hundreds of thousands of dollars. An email to the company seeking comment...

A federal judge on Monday tossed part of a lawsuit accusing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of malfeasance when he flew migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022. ... But she said there’s no evidence Mr. DeSantis or his employees were involved in the conduct at issue in Massachusetts, so they weren’t appropriate targets for a lawsuit filed in her district. “Accordingly, Plaintiffs have failed to show that personal jurisdiction exists over the Individual State Defendants, Huerta and Montgomerie, and thus the Amended Complaint is dismissed without prejudice as to those Defendants,” the judge wrote. ... The case stems from Mr. DeSantis’...

If Massachusetts ends up getting an even bigger influx of migrants from Haiti, we may have Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to thank. That’s because the Republican recently floated the idea of sending more migrants from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard. “We do have our transport program also that’s going to be operational,” DeSantis said, according to Politico. “Haitians land in the Florida Keys, their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard.”

Air DeSantis could be taking off again as the Florida governor’s crusade against the Biden border crisis left Martha’s Vineyard on notice. Haiti has become only the latest nation to fall into turmoil on President Joe Biden’s watch as the halcyon days of peace through strength were abandoned amidst a sense of chaos through corruption. Compounding crises haven’t impeded Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) from leading the Sunshine State to proactive solutions that included a callback to a tide-turning measure impacting sanctuary city sentiments. Appearing on “The Dana Loesch Show,” the statesman addressed how the federal government could impede deportation...

Lawfare is the vengeful exercise of raw political power to punish political enemies. It is unadulterated fascism, and the destruction of the American system of justice. What a week! Consider what has happened this week: SCOTUS delayed Jack Smith's Jan. 6 trial -- possibly until after the election. Judge Cannon is likely to delay the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case at least until the summer. Fani Willis and Nathan Wade are likely to be removed from the racketeering case, delaying and perhaps ending their RICO persecution of Trump. Trump has appealed Letitia James' Draconian penalties to New York Appeals Court which...

The Biden Administration has declared that elite locales like Montauk and Fishers Island in New York, and parts of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts are eligible for low-income area electric vehicle (EV) charger subsidies. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg explained "here's the deal. The only people who can afford EVs are people with high incomes. Spending some of this high income on expensive EVs effectively lowers their income relative to the rest of the population." "More importantly, the early adoption of EVs by the wealthier segment of the population is essential if we hope to displace our dependency on gasoline-powered...

The Biden administration says parts of Martha’s Vineyard qualify for low-income electric vehicle (EV) subsidies. “Numerous elite hangouts and locales — including Montauk and Fishers Island in New York, and parts of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts — are among the areas” that the Biden administration says qualify as “low-income” and are therefore “eligible for receipt of EV charger subsidies,” reports the Daily Caller. The White House explained the tax subsidy this way: This tax credit provides up to 30% off the cost of the charger to individuals and businesses in low-income communities and non-urban areas, making it more...

The Biden administration is classifying some of the country’s most elite and exclusive locales as “low-income” areas, making them eligible for electric vehicle (EV) charger subsidy programs. The administration’s EV charger tax credit program — made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill — is specifically designed to route subsidies to “low-income” or “non-urban” areas of the country. The “low-income” emphasis for eligibility aligns in spirit with the Biden administration’s wider pursuit of so-called “environmental justice,” which is effectively the combination of social justice ideology and green policy.Numerous elite hangouts and locales — including...

The snobbery and pseudo-elitism that goes hand-in-hand with the elevated status of a Martha’s Vineyard leftist makes it easy to pity their position instead of envy it, with one exception: their ability to swiftly and decisively eject illegal invaders. On Monday, agents from Boston’s Enforcement and Removal Office (ERO) apprehended and arrested a Brazilian national living in the elite enclave, because he was a “predator” whose presence was “threaten[ing] to residents.” You don’t say. From a press release on the matter: The Brazilian national received multiple criminal convictions for raping a child and was sentenced to 14 years in prison....

Barack Obama, a semi-retired resident of Martha's Vineyard, posted a lengthy statement on his personal blog spelling out his "thoughts on Israel and Gaza." The blog post was as pompous and long-winded as one might expect from a self-styled intellectual who writes multi-volume memoirs. Reading the whole thing would be a waste of any self-respecting person's time, so here is the abridged version. The Martha's Vineyard resident, who recently lost his personal chef in a tragic paddleboarding accident (or so authorities claim) near his $19 million waterfront estate, had some advice for how Israel should respond to the Hamas terrorist...

News is now breaking about the mysterious drowning death of Barack Obama's personal chef, Tafari Campbell. Some things do not line up with the official account we were first given about his death.However, before we get inundated with the scandal, I want to find out if he left any favorite recipes behind. Being a big foodie myself I enjoy experimenting with food and revealing my recipes. One example might be air fried garlic turkey wings that I am experimenting with right now. The big task, of course, is eliminating the toughness of those wings.Anyway, does anybody out there know of...

How was commerce on Martha’s Vineyard this summer? If most business owners gave it only a passing grade, those catering to the wealthy had a different take. “The high-end market has been really great,” said Teri Perozzi, owner of Martha’s Vineyard Tours and Transport, in an assessment echoed by a range of hotel managers, shopkeepers and real estate agents interviewed last week by the Gazette. While businesses that rely on day trippers and the middle class said sales were down or flat this summer as vacationers grappled with budgets maxed out on the high costs of food and lodging on...

Last weekend’s events were largely kept under wraps. If asked, attendees donning name tags and color-coded wristbands were told to say they were gathering for a family reunion. It was, in some ways, true. On Sept. 9, almost a year to the day since 49 migrants landed on Martha’s Vineyard unexpectedly, Islanders hosted a quiet reunion for the asylum seekers who have since scattered across the country. There outside St. Andrew’s Parish House, volunteers and migrants reunited over food, music and lawn games — a far cry from the emergency response that had initially brought them together. Although the people...