Eight people from Venezeula arrived in Sacramento on two different flights, KCRA reported on Saturday. Three of them had to walk barefoot from the Sacramento International Airport to a local charity after arriving in the city.
According to CBS News, the group was given paperwork directing them to a shelter that turned out to be an office building for Catholic Charities, which provides social services to people in need.
The men were eventually connected to a city food bank, which contacted NorCal Resist, a local grassroots advocacy group, CBS News reported.
A volunteer for the organization, Goya Gutierrez, picked them up and provided food and accommodations at a local hotel, according to KCRA.
One of the men, who was not named in the report, said that they had left their home country about 45 days before and was transported to a Migrant Resource Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Once there, the man claimed that someone offered them free plane tickets to Sacramento and they couldn’t choose their desired destination, according to the report.
“They were really confused. Two of them said they wanted to go to Utah and one wanted to go to Manhattan and somehow they ended up in Sacramento,” Gutierrez told KCRA, adding that they have no family in Sacramento.
This comes as GOP-led states are increasing the transport of migrants to sanctuary cities in response to President Joe Biden’s border policies.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently flew dozens of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. And Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been sending busloads of migrants to other major cities across the country, including Washington, D.C. Their actions have been met with extreme backlash from Democratic leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom.