Texas Governor Greg Abbott, upset with the Biden administration’s lenient policies at the U.S. southern border, said he intends to transport illegal immigrants who cross the border to Washington, D.C., including to Capitol Hill.
“To help local officials whose communities are being overwhelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants who are being dropped off by the administration, Texas is providing charter buses to send these illegal immigrants who have been dropped off by the Biden administration, to Washington, D.C.,” Abbott said during a news conference on Wednesday.
“We are sending them to the United States Capitol 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,” he said.
The Texas Tribune reports Abbott’s office later explained the program is completely voluntary for migrants and would happen only after they had been processed and released by the Department of Homeland Security.
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Abbott also delivered new directives in response to the Biden administration’s winding down of Title 42, a public health law that has limited asylum-seekers by preventing the spread of COVID-19. When that happens on May 23, it is expected to draw even more migrants to the southern border.
U.S. Border Patrol officials say they are planning for as many as 18,000 migrants daily once the health policy expires. Last week, about 7,100 migrants were coming every day to the southern U.S. border.
As CBN News reported, three Republican-led states, Missouri, Louisiana, and Arizona, are suing the Biden administration over its decision to end Title 42.
Texas officials also said they would begin “increased military activity” on the border and install razor wire at some low-water along the river to deter migrants from crossing. Already, the Lone Star State has deployed thousands of troopers and National Guard members, installed a new border barrier, and jailed migrants on trespassing charges.
Abbott also said state troopers would begin stopping and inspecting commercial vehicles that come across the border, which he acknowledged would “dramatically slow” vehicle traffic near U.S. ports of entry.
The governor said the inspection stops would occur on Texas roadways and follow the law. “But of course, everyone always files a lawsuit,” he said.
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