On Thursday, a spokesman for the governor’s office told the Washington Examiner that the state’s attempt to transport migrants to Washington has ended in 835 people being dropped off since the first bus arrived on April 13.
The 32 buses carry 26 people a bus, yet the vehicles can carry up to 40. The buses are taxpayer-funded and free of charge to migrants. They serve to ease the transportation burden on Texas towns and nonprofit organizations that are overwhelmed as many thousand migrants are freed into the nation every day.
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Abbott, who is pursuing a third term in November, declared on April 6 that the state would use emergency evacuation procedures to “take the border to President Biden” as the number of noncitizens illegally crossing the border from Mexico increased in March to some of the highest levels ever seen.
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The state hired private charter bus companies and security to ride along on the buses for the nonstop trip.
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Although Abbott announced the move would show Washington what border towns like Eagle Pass and McAllen are facing, the operation has not garnered much attention in Washington. Migrants dropped off by the buses typically walk to the nearby Union Station and board trains or long-distance buses to proceed to destinations where they have family or friends.
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Some Republicans, including former senior Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli, have denounced the busing operation.
“Busing illegals to D.C. is nice showmanship, but nothing here will change the illegal flow into Texas. Ironically enough, Abbott will slow the legal flow with more burdensome inspections. Looking forward to next week for the ‘unprecedented’ part of the announcement,” Cuccinelli, senior fellow for the Conservative Center for Renewing America, announced in a statement.
Back when the decision was made, Abbot said “To help local officials whose communities are being overwhelmed by hoards of illegal immigrants who the Biden Administration is dropping off, Texas is providing charter buses to send these illegal immigrants who the Biden Administration has dropped off to Washington, D.C.,” and that “We are sending them to the United States’s capital, where the Biden Administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border.”