I think DeSantis and Abbott wanted their transport to be public and make major news, while Biden didn't want his to be public or noticed.
Choosing transparency and choosing secrecy were both things done for political reasons.
DeSantis appears to be cynically using migrants as political props, and to that end, I find it pretty gross. On the other hand, I would rather have relocations transparent and the discussion about immigration policy had.
My preference on immigration is to remove country of origin immigration quotas, and as to the Venezuela situation in particular, to grant asylum to those fleeing. I think the best solution for those who say we need to enforce the laws already on the books, is to change those underlying laws.
Maybe the national conversation leads to greater restrictions rather than less, but that's a risk of any issue. Hiding from the discussion doesn't serve any purpose that isn't political.