Migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard will be voluntarily taken to a military base for shelter and support

(CNN) — The roughly 50 migrants who were sent by plane to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts by Florida’s governor this week will be transported to a military base Friday to receive shelter and humanitarian support.

The migrants will be sent voluntarily to Joint Base Cape Cod, said Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who added he’s activating up to 125 National Guard members to assist the relief effort.

The migrants were flown to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday, sent by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in one of the latest of a series of moves by Republican governors to transport migrants to northern liberal enclaves to protest what they say are inadequate federal efforts on southern border security.

At a church where the migrants had been staying on Martha’s Vineyard, migrants cheered Friday morning when they heard the Massachusetts government would shelter them at a Cape Cod military base.

They embraced each other and locals before boarding buses provided by state and local government for their journey to the base.

Joint Base Cape Cod — already an emergency shelter designated by the state emergency management agency — is set up to provide “a safe temporary accommodation appropriate for the needs of families and individuals,” the governor’s office said in a release.

The migrants “will be housed in dormitory-style spaces at JBCC, with separate spaces accommodating both individuals and families,” and families will not be separated, the release reads.

They will have access to services including legal, health care, food, hygiene kits, and crisis counseling, according to Baker’s office.

Baker lauded a temporary shelter that the Martha’s Vineyard community set up for the migrants in “a moment of urgent need.”

“We are grateful to the providers, volunteers and local officials that stepped up on Martha’s Vineyard over the past few days to provide immediate services to these individuals,” Baker said in a news release.

This is a developing story and will be updated.