16 migrants flown by private jet from El Paso to California, flight triggers investigation

SACRAMENTO, California (KVIA) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta say the migrants arrived by private jet without prior arrangement.

Sacramento Area Congregations Together (ACT) is a religious group that received the migrants. The organization says the group of migrants come from Venezuela and Columbia and entered the U.S. through El Paso.

The migrants were allegedly approached by a private contractor in El Paso and told they would get jobs, free support, and help getting into migrant centers in the U.S. if they flew to California, according to Sacramento ACT.

On Saturday, California officials met with the migrants and found they had documentation from the state of Florida.

The California Attorney General says the case in under investigation.

The more than a dozen migrants were taken from Texas into New Mexico, then flown on a private charter jet to Sacramento where they were dropped off at the Diocese of Sacramento on Friday with only a backpack of belongings each.

The Sacramento religious leaders say the migrants did not know where they were, but were reportedly processed when they entered the U.S. and had court appointments.

The California Department of Justice is leading the investigation on who paid for the group's private flight and if any criminal laws were broken.

Read more of our reporting from along the border here.