It has been almost five months since Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott started transporting migrants to Washington D.C. on buses. Critics, including the city’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, call it a “political stunt” to aggravate Democratic Party leaders in major cities and oppose President Biden’s immigration policies. Currently, more than 6,000 migrants are in the nation’s capital with no permanent place to go and no other assistance.
Bowser says this is a federal issue, and she expects a federal answer. Although she has asked twice for assistance from the National Guard, both requests have been denied by the Pentagon. However, Bowser declared a public emergency and announced the establishment of an Office of Migrant Services to provide support and services to migrants who have arrived in the city.
Legal Aid staff attorney Josh Goldfein harshly criticized Abbott’s policy, adding, “to just send people blindly without any screening or consideration of what their actual needs are is just cruel.”
This issue is now not only a concern in the nation’s capital but also in Chicago and New York City, where busloads of migrants are arriving from Texas and Arizona.
Abbott and Arizona governor Doug Ducey contend that busing the migrants out of their states provides much-needed relief to their overwhelmed border communities.
