Could Ron DeSantis Face Kidnapping Charges Amid Bitter Gavin Newsom Feud?

The feud between Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis has escalated as the California governor called for his Florida counterpart to face kidnapping charges after migrants were sent to Sacramento by the Sunshine State.

On Friday, June 2, a group of 16 migrants from Venezuela and Colombia were flown on a private flight from Texas to California before being dropped off at a church in Sacramento, the state capital where Democrat Newsom has his office.

Three days later, a second plane carrying roughly 20 migrants landed in Sacramento, with both groups of asylum seekers said to have been carrying paperwork that links them to Florida.

In a tweet on Monday, Newsom accused 2024 GOP presidential hopeful DeSantis of being behind the stunt in sending migrants to Democrat-controlled parts of the county while calling him a "small, pathetic man."

"This isn't Martha's Vineyard," Newsom tweeted in reference to a previous occasion when DeSantis organized flying migrants from Texas to the affluent area of Massachusetts.

"Kidnapping charges?" Newsom added while sharing a screenshot of California legislation which states: "Every person who, being out of this state, abducts or takes by force or fraud any person contrary to the law of the place where that act is committed, and brings, sends, or conveys that person within the limits of this state, and is afterwards found within the limits thereof, is guilty of kidnapping."

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is investigating the arrival of the migrants in Sacramento, said in a statement his office is evaluating "potential criminal or civil action" against those who transported or arranged for the transport of the migrants, adding: "I want to say this very clearly: State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a public policy choice, it is immoral and disgusting.

While the Florida Division of Emergency Management admitted a role in the flights, DeSantis has not spoken about the issue.

DeSantis' office has been contacted for comment via email.

Attorney Andrew Lieb, legal and political analyst, said that if the Florida governor is behind the latest stunt then Newsom is "correct" that he could face kidnapping charges.

However, Lieb added that such a move is far-fetched and that DeSantis is protected from prosecution regardless because of his position in office.

"A governor acting in his official capacity, even if in bad faith or maliciously, is protected from charges by the Doctrine of Absolute Immunity and one state must honor the laws of another state because of the Doctrine of Comity," Lieb told Newsweek. "As such, this is going nowhere, besides political firepower, quickly."

The Comity which Lieb cites states that courts of one state or jurisdiction respect the laws and judicial decisions of other states as a matter of courtesy or obligation, rather than a matter of law.

Lieb goes on to suggest the implications if Newsom did not abide by the Comity by pushing for charges against DeSantis.

"Imagine that happened. If it did, we'd be at the point of a civil war," Lieb said.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management confirmed that the state was behind the flights to Sacramento, but dismissed the kidnapping suggestions as the migrants made the trips voluntarily "through verbal and written consent."

"From left-leaning mayors in El Paso, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, the relocation of those illegally crossing the United States border is not new," Florida Division of Emergency Management spokesperson Alecia Collins said in a statement to The Hill.

"But suddenly, when Florida sends illegal aliens to a sanctuary city, it's false imprisonment and kidnapping."

Mark Meuser, a constitutional and election lawyer and former Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate for California, also disputed Newsom's assessment that kidnapping charges could be filed against DeSantis over the migrant flights.

"Read the law you posted. The law says that the 'abduction' must violate the laws where the abduction occurred," Meuser tweeted. "Can you please cite one Florida law that prohibits the transportation of individuals who are in this country illegally to a sanctuary state?"