Florida’s governor chartered flights to Martha’s Vineyard, dumping migrants like political props. Not a policy, not a plan—just cruelty staged for television. Children carried backpacks into a photo op designed for campaign ads.
The move was defended as “sending a message.” The message was clear: human lives are theater. Governors with presidential ambitions will treat asylum seekers like rented scenery, shipped around the country to score points with base voters who cheer suffering if it comes in the right language.
America has turned the border into a performance venue. The cruelty is the spectacle. The applause line is the pain.