Gov. Greg Abbott traveled to New York City on Thursday night to be the keynote speaker at an annual New York Republican Party fundraising gala, where he focused on the crisis at the southern border caused by record-high numbers of migrants unlawfully crossing into the United States.
Abbott wasted no time in discussing the ongoing issue, noting how the busing program he launched that has sent more than 108,000 unlawful migrants to sanctuary cities across the country has grown much larger than he ever planned.
“When we began the busing operation, it was going to one location. It was there on purpose because, remember, up to this time, neither Joe Biden nor the border czar had actually been to the border to see the chaos they had caused,” he said, per CBS News New York.
Abbott described the program’s beginnings and why he eventually increased the number of cities he sent unlawful migrants to, explaining how New York City Mayor Eric Adams played a major role in the decision.
“We were sending them only to Washington, D.C., and quite literally out of nowhere, Mayor Adams starts criticizing me for sending them to New York City,” he said, according to CBS.
“So after a while, I figured, gosh, if I’m gonna get the criticism, I’m gonna get the credit,” he said.
Abbott then vowed that he would continue to bus unlawful migrants to New York City, despite Adams filing a lawsuit against many transportation companies that are helping Texas with the program.
“We are going to have to maintain this process until we get a new president this next November who will secure the border for the United States of America,” he said, as reported by The Gothamist.
Although the New York Republican Party chose to honor Abbott as the keynote speaker during Thursday’s event, many within New York City were more critical of the Texas governor’s appearance.
Leading up to the gala, Adams invited the governor to sleep in a New York City migrant shelter to experience how some people live in the city.
“I’m going to offer him a stay in one of the [Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers], so he can see what he has created and understand how we are treating people with the dignity and respect that he should have shown,” said Adams, per CBS.
Similarly, Adams’ press secretary, Kayla Mamelak, criticized the gala and said the Republican Party should focus on creating change rather than pushing a narrative about the border.
“Instead of inviting Gov. Abbott to speak at a gala, we encourage members of the NY GOP to urge their far-right Republican colleagues in Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, something they have blocked for decades,” she said, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Abbott pushed back on many of the claims made before the gala, saying that Texas has it far worse than any other state due to the large number of people unlawfully crossing.
“The complaining by Mayor Adams is nothing short [of] stunning. What he has is a tiny fraction of what Texas gets every day,” said the governor, as reported by Politico.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said something similar during the gala, stating that “Joe Biden has turned every state into a border state” since taking office.
Stefanik said during an interview with Politico after the event that unlawful migration will likely be “the top issue in every swing district across the country” and the most important issue discussed before the presidential election.
