Florida's Venezuela migrant flight recruiter 'Perla' identified as ex-Army counterintelligence agent


The four dozen Venezuelan asylum-seekers flown to Martha's Vineyard on Sept. 14 have told lawyers and news organizations they were lured onto private planes in Texas by a woman named Perla, who gave them McDonald's gift cards, a hotel room, and false promises of jobs, cash assistance, and housing at the end of the fight. The woman, The New York Times and CNN reported, was recently discharged from the Army and lives in Tampa, Florida.
Perla Huerta, the Times reports, was a combat medic and counterintelligence agent in her two decades in the Army, with several deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. She was discharged last month, according to military records. The Times says it was tipped off to Huerta's identity by a person familiar with the San Antonio sheriff's office investigation of the incident, then confirmed her identity with photos shown to several migrants and a repentant Venezuelan migrant she had used to recruit fellow asylum-seekers. A friend of Huerta's identified her to CNN.
Huerta did not respond to request for comment from the Times and CNN.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has taken credit for flying the 48 migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard, using a $12 million state fund set up to "facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens from this state." Since the migrants were flown from Texas — DeSantis said an expected influx of migrants to Florida did not materialize so he had to look elsewhere — and were legally seeking asylum, it's not clear the operation was a legal use of state money.
Florida flew the migrants to Martha's Vineyard on flights chartered from Vertol Systems, a company with ties to several high-profile Florida Republicans, the Times reports. Florida paid Vertol $615,000 on Sept. 8 and $950,000 less than two weeks later, for "project 1" and "projects two and three," respectively.
The Venezuelans, meanwhile, are upset about being misled and stranded on the Massachusetts island. "We were tricked in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico — and then in the United States," Carlos Guanaguanay, 25, tells the Times. Most of the Venezuelans are now being housed at a U.S. military base on Cape Cod.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
5 cartoons about the TACO trade
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on America's tariffs, Vladimir Putin waiting for taco Tuesday, and a new presidential seal
-
A city of culture in the high Andes
The Week Recommends Cuenca is a must-visit for those keen to see the 'real Ecuador'
-
The Chagos Islands: Starmer's 'lousy deal'
Talking Point The PM's adherence to 'legalism' has given Mauritius a 'gift from British taxpayers'
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Deportations: Miller's threat to the courts
Feature The Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus to speed up deportations without due process
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media