Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is traveling to New York City on Thursday evening for an annual Republican fundraising event in Manhattan.
Abbott will be the keynote speaker for the New York Republican’s annual fundraising gala on April 4, per the Gothamist. David Laska, director of communications for the New York GOP, said Abbott was invited to the event due to his leading “a state that does everything in its power to stop the invasion of illegal migrants on its southern border,” according to The Houston Chronicle.
The Texas governor is expected to discuss the influx of unlawful migrants into the U.S. and the actions taken by the Lone Star State to manage the crisis during his speech.
However, New York City Mayor Eric Adam expressed his own views of Abbott’s coming into town, suggesting that the Texas governor could sleep in a migrant shelter “so he can see what he has created,” reported The Dallas Morning News.
Kayla Mamelak, Deputy Press Secretary to Adam, criticized the gala and said the Republican party should focus on passing meaningful legislation instead of hosting the event.
“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,” Mamelak said in a statement, per the Gothamist.
Abbott’s visit will occur as he continues to bus unlawful migrants to New York City and other sanctuary cities across the country to help Texas manage the ongoing crisis along the southern border.
The most recent update from Abbott’s office states that over 108,600 unlawful migrants have been transported to cities across the country, including 40,600 migrants being sent to New York City since August 2022.
This migrant busing program prompted the New York City mayor to file a lawsuit against the busing companies in January. He claimed that “Abbott has admitted to facilitating the transport” and hoped the lawsuit would “serve as a warning” for those who break the law, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Abbott has rebutted Adams’ claims, saying that the lawsuit is “a political statement” and that the mayor “sued the wrong party.”
“If the mayor is really trying to cut down on the number of illegal immigrants coming into New York, he needs to be suing Joe Biden, not these bus companies,” the governor explained, as previously reported by DX.
“Because it is Joe Biden and Joe Biden’s policies that’s [sic] causing the massive, multimillion influx into the United States that leads to many of them wanting to go to New York,” Abbott added.
