(Headline USA) Texas Gov. Greg Abbott followed through on his promise to start shipping illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C. this week, with the first bus from Texas arriving in the nation’s capital on Wednesday.
The charter bus, carrying up to 40 migrants who had been detained by border officials after illegally crossing the southern border, arrived in Washington, D.C. around 9 a.m. on Wednesday and stopped just blocks away from the U.S. Capitol building.
Texas Governor @GregAbbott_TX carries out his pledge to transport illegal migrants to Washington, DC. The bus pulled up right in front of the building that houses @FoxNews , @NBCNews and @cspan pic.twitter.com/KsrP04LSuw
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) April 13, 2022
A senior state official familiar with the process said that most of the migrants on the bus had been discharged from federal custody somewhere in the Del Rio sector. Many of the migrants were from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
Texas buses filled with migrants arrived in Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/T1yF8nnt2X
— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) April 13, 2022
A second charter bus is already on its way, Abbott said.
“As the federal government continues to turn a blind eye to the border crisis, the State of Texas will remain steadfast in our efforts to fill in the gaps and keep Texans safe,” Abbott said in a statement shortly after the drop-off.
“By busing migrants to Washington, D.C., the Biden Administration will be able to more immediately meet the needs of the people they are allowing to cross our border,” he continued. “Texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden Administration’s failure to secure our border.”
The White House has slammed Abbott over the new policy, calling it a “publicity stunt.”
“His own office admits that a migrant would need to voluntarily be transported, and then he can’t compel them to because, again, enforcement of our country’s immigration laws lies with the federal government and not a state,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this month.
