The first bus of migrants from Texas arrived in Washington, D.C. Wednesday morning, one week after Gov. Greg Abbott announced a new plan to combat the border crisis.
During his announcement, Abbott said he was directing the Texas Division of Emergency Management to transport migrants from Texas to the nation’s capital and other locations.
“Texas is providing charter buses for these illegal immigrants who have been dropped off to Washington, DC,” Abbott said.
“We are sending them to the United States capital, 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,” the governor added.
The bus arrived around 8 a.m., blocks away from the US Capitol in front of the building that houses Fox News, NBC News and C-SPAN.
The migrants “came from the Del Rio sector in Texas, after coming to the U.S. from Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela,” reported Fox News.
Individuals exited the bus one by one, except for family units which left together, to check in with officials and get their wristbands cut off.
Many have questioned whether Abbott’s plan to bus migrants was genuine. White House press secretary Jen Psaki called it a “publicity stunt”.
When asked about the plan, Psaki said “I’m not aware of what authority the governor would be doing that under”. “I think it’s pretty clear this is a publicity stunt”.
“His own office admits that a migrant would need to voluntarily be transported, and it can’t compel them to because, again, enforcement of our country’s immigration laws lies with the federal government and not a state,” she added.