Lawyers for Martha's Vineyard migrants plan to sue the ex-Army counterintelligence agent who reportedly helped arrange the flights

• Attorneys representing Martha's Vineyard migrants said they plan to sue the ex-Army agent reportedly involved in the flights.
• Perla Huerta, a former counterintelligence agent, convinced migrants to board the planes, the New York Times reported.

Attorneys representing a group of migrants among the dozens who were flown to Martha's Vineyard by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Monday they intend to sue the ex-Army counterintelligence agent who reportedly helped arrange the flights.

A woman named Perla Huerta, who served as a combat medic and counterintelligence agent in the US Army, was identified by The New York Times and CNN as an on-the-ground recruiter who allegedly helped convince some of the nearly 50 migrants to get onto the planes.

The migrants, mostly from Venezuela, arrived unannounced on two chartered planes from Texas at the upscale liberal Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard on September 14.

Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Boston-based nonprofit, has filed a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of a group of the migrants alleging that DeSantis and other Florida officials carried out a "scheme to defraud vulnerable immigrants to advance a political motive."

The lawsuit says a woman, identified as "Perla," and a man, identified as "Emanuel," waited outside shelters in Texas to offer migrants gift certificates to McDonald's and tell them about the transport, "pretending to be good Samaritans offering humanitarian assistance."

Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, the executive director of the lawyer group, said in a statement on Monday that the nonprofit plans to amend its lawsuit to substitute "Perla's" real name as a defendant in the complaint once the group has verified she was involved.

"She will then be formally served with the complaint and required to respond in federal district court," Espinoza-Madrigal said.

Huerta retired from the Army in August — a month before the migrant flights — after two decades in service, US Army spokeswoman Madison Bonzo told Insider on Monday.

Between April 2022 and August 2022, Huerta served as a counterintelligence/human intelligence senior sergeant, and a healthcare specialist in the Army, Bonzo said, adding, that Huerta held the rank of master sergeant at the end of her service.

Huerta was deployed several times, including to Iraq twice and to Afghanistan four times, the spokeswoman said.

She was also deployed to the East African country Djibouti in 2013, the spokesperson said.

The migrants' lawyer Espinoza-Madrigal said "the fact that 'Perla' is apparently a former military operative and spy aligns with the allegations in the complaint – which describe a highly orchestrated plan based on secrecy, deceit, and misrepresentation."

He added, "We look forward to uncovering further evidence as the case proceeds and bringing all of the perpetrators of this scheme to justice."

Huerta could not immediately be reached for comment by Insider and DeSantis' office did not immediately return a request for comment.