The battle over immigration policies in Texas has continued following the arrival of asylum seekers in Washington, D.C.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott promised last week to combat the problems at the southern border by busing migrants to the steps of the nation’s capital.
As reported by The Dallas Express, Governor Abbott said in a press conference, “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 clarified in a later statement that only those who voluntarily wished to be relocated and only those released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would be transported to D.C.
Some questioned whether Abbott’s proposal to transport refugees by bus was sincere. The White House described it as a “publicity stunt,” and Texas Republican State Representative Matt Schaefer termed it a “gimmick.”
However, at around 8 a.m. on April 13, a bus transporting several migrants arrived in Washington D.C., directed by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). The bus stopped just blocks away from the Capitol.
Individuals and families exited the bus, checking in with officials before leaving.
Abbott has unwaveringly claimed that the federal government is not doing enough to address unlawful migration along Texas’ southern border. His vocal disapproval intensified after President Biden announced that Title 42, introduced to refuse potential migrants at the border during the COVID-19 outbreak, would be repealed.
To tighten border security, the Texas governor recently implemented a measure that made commercial vehicles entering the state from Mexico subject to inspections, claiming that many of these trucks “smuggle immigrants and other illegal cargo into Texas and onto our roads.”
The move was criticized by the Biden administration, which called it “unnecessary and redundant,” noting the inspections would cause “significant disruptions to the food and automobile supply chains, delaying manufacturing, impacting jobs, and raising prices for families in Texas and across the country.”
Abbott claimed that the action would not “dramatically slow traffic from Mexico,” but instead “immediately help ensure that Texans are not in danger.” However, after extensive delays caused by protests over the inspections, Abbott partly lifted the measure.