Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday the state will bus another 70,000 immigrants to Democrat-run cities around the nation amid the Biden administration’s ongoing crisis at the Southern Border.
“Texas will bus migrants to sanctuary cities until Biden secures the border,” Abbott said on X. “Our mission provides vital relief to border towns.”
According to Abbott, the state intends to transport more than 12,500 migrants to Washington D.C., 25,000 to New York City, 20,000 to Chicago, 3,200 to Philadelphia, 7,400 to Denver, and over 1,000 to Los Angeles.
The governor’s move comes as floods of migrants crossing the southern border in recent months have led to a national crisis, of which border towns typically bear the brunt.
But under Abbott’s leadership, Texas reversed course last year by sending tens of thousands of migrants to so-called sanctuary cities run by Democrat officials — who were quick to voice criticism over the governor’s orders.
Cities like New York City and Chicago are scrambling to metabolize the thousands of migrants who have shown up since last year.
In New York City, more than 130,000 migrants have arrived since last year, many of whom are still being housed on the city’s dime, causing homeless shelters to reach their limits and forcing the city to open new facilities.
Chicago — the country’s third-largest city — has experienced an influx of more than 18,500 migrants recently, many from Venezuela.
Chicago is working to build massive winterized camps for newly arrived migrants, many of whom have slept on the floors of police stations or airports for months. The city has already spent at least $250 million on the issue.
Earlier this month, a report from House Republicans cited numbers from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and Yale University that showed between 16.8 million and 29 million illegal migrants currently living in the U.S.
The data indicates that about 3.8 million migrants have entered the country under President Biden’s watch, overwhelming U.S. Border Patrol authorities — who continue to sound the alarm over the historic number of illegal immigrants entering the country.
Border Patrol chiefs warned House lawmakers of the “unprecedented scope of this crisis” as at least 1.4 million illegal immigrants have reportedly been released into the U.S. in Fiscal Year 2023.
In September, Border Patrol officials recorded almost 270,000 migrant encounters near the southern border — marking a multiyear high, Axios reported. More than 160,000 of those encounters occurred in Texas.
Texas Republicans recently sent Gov. Abbott SB4 — a bill that would authorize local police to handle immigration enforcement by making it a state misdemeanor to cross the Texas-Mexico border illegally. If passed, the bill also allows a judge to order immigrants to return to Mexico.
“S.B. 4 is the strongest border security bill Texas has ever passed,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, said in a statement.
“The illegal crosser can be jailed or ordered by a magistrate to be returned to the border,” Patrick added. “If they violate the order and return to Texas, they will face even harsher penalties.”
Abbott is reportedly expected to sign the bill in the near future.
Mairead Elordi contributed to this report.