In April 2022, Abbott brought his first busload of refugees to Washington, D.C., followed by buses from New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia. With the conclusion of Title 42, a Trump-era expulsion order, on May 11, Abbott deployed the transports in the midst of record migrant contacts at the southern border.
“Texas’ overwhelmed and overrun border communities shouldn’t have to bear the flood of illegal immigration due to President Biden’s reckless open border policies, like his mass catch and release without court dates or any way to track them,” Abbott said in a statement on Thursday.
The migrant-receiving communities have denounced Abbott’s initiative, which has resulted in the transportation of about 19,000 people. The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, recently accused Abbott of leading the drive to “hurt black-run cities.”
“Until the President and his Administration take decisive action and carry out their constitutional duty to secure the border, the State of Texas will continue busing migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities like Denver to provide desperately needed relief to our small border towns.”
Denver’s Democratic mayor, Michael Hancock, declared a state of emergency in December as a result of a spike in migrant arrivals that occurred before Abbott’s initiative ever got off the ground. The city reported that 6,000 migrants in all had arrived there as of April.
In January, Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis also started busing immigrants to New York City.
