Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas will keep bussing migrants from the state to sanctuary cities until the Biden administration takes measures to secure the southern border.
Despite criticism from Democrats, Abbott has said the bussing program has provided much-needed relief to border towns in Texas, which are often overwhelmed by the number of migrants coming into the country from Mexico.
“Texas will bus migrants to sanctuary cities until Biden secures the border,” Abbott posted Wednesday on X. “Our mission provides vital relief to border towns.”
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According to the governor, Texas has bussed 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 just over 1,000 to Los Angeles.
Officials in those Democrat-led cities have sharply criticized Abbott for sending buses filled with migrants to their cities with little or no notice.
Abbott has argued that so-called sanctuary cities have the luxury of disingenuously claiming to welcome illegal immigrants without having to actually face the influx that border towns deal with on a daily basis.
New York has been especially hit hard as residents have voiced anger at city officials over the matter.
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In one case, a 94-year-old Army war veteran was evicted from his nursing home, which now houses migrants for free.
“I felt horrible,” Frank Tammaro recently told Fox News. “It’s no joke getting thrown out of a house.”
“I do get upset when I see them handing out all this money and all these things, and I’m paying taxes and getting kicked out,” he added. “I’ve never got anything from the city. Or the state.”
The city is expanding assistance to asylum seekers to help them complete applications for asylum, work authorization, and other programs — as the city continues to grapple with a migrant crisis that has led to massive budget cuts.
Texas has initiated its own border security measures, such as a new state law that will increase penalties for human smugglers and criminals who operate stash houses as well as barriers on the border and stepped up border enforcement.
Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz, Megan Myers and Teny Sahakian contributed to this report.
