Texas began sending busloads of migrants to New York City in ongoing efforts to provide relief for strained border communities most directly affected by the issue of unlawful migration.
Governor Greg Abbott announced on August 5, “Because of President Biden’s continued refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies, the State of Texas has had to take unprecedented action to keep our communities safe.”
These steps initially included sending migrants to D.C., but Abbot has expanded the program to include New York City. He explained, “New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Major Eric Adams has boasted about in his sanctuary city.”
New York City has deemed itself a “sanctuary city” and has forbidden any city resources to be used to assist federal law enforcement measures concerning unlawful migration.
These policies led federal agent Thomas Decker from the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to lament, “I don’t know what it will take for the representative of New York City to see that keeping their sanctuary city policies [is] dangerous to the residents of this great city and, in some cases, deadly.”
Abbott referred to the city’s sanctuary status, remarking, “I hope he [Mayor Adams] follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.”
Abbott explained, “President Biden’s reckless open border policies have created a dangerous environment not only for tens of millions of Texans but for communities all across the nation.”
He pleaded for federal action to help Texas stop “the flood of deadly fentanyl, now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45, the unimaginable horrors caused by human smuggling and trafficking, the known terrorists from entering our country, and the countless other crimes that have been committed by the hundreds of thousands” of unlawful migrants that “the Biden Administration has let slip through.”
Senator Ted Cruz has also joined Abbott in denouncing the Biden administration’s relaxed stance toward border security, releasing a video highlighting the alleged increase of the “Narco Slave Trade.” As The Dallas Express reported, Cruz claimed, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are responsible for the worst plague of slavery in America since the Civil War.”
Abbott recently invited Mayor Eric Adams of New York and Mayor Muriel Bowser of D.C. to visit the Texas-Mexico border personally to see the effects of increased unlawful migration. Mayor Adams rejected Abbott’s offer, calling it a “photo-op,” as reported by The Dallas Express.
Recently, Adams complained that New York’s resources were overstretched. He appealed for aid from Washington, explaining, “We need help, and we’re reaching out to the federal government to tell them that we need help.”
In total, over 6,500 migrants have been provided transportation to D.C. and New York City since Abbott started the program.