UNITED STATES: To shift responsibility for border crossers on his Democratic political rivals, Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday bused a group of around 60 recently arrived migrants to Chicago.
According to state data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Texas has bused more than 7,000 migrants to Washington, D.C., and New York City since April, spending close to $13 million on the project through August 8.
Democrat President Joe Biden has failed to protect the border with Mexico, according to Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who is running for re-election in the November midterm elections. Between October 1, 2021, and July 31, 2022, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested 1.8 million migrants at the southwest border, setting a new record.
The Democrat mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, came under fire from Abbott on Wednesday night for her city’s “sanctuary” statute, which restricts cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
In a statement, Abbott claimed that Mayor Lightfoot “loves to highlight” the obligation of her community to embrace everyone, regardless of their legal status. “I’m eager to see this duty put into practice.”
A representative for Lightfoot, Ryan Johnson, verified on Twitter after Abbott’s statement that roughly 50 migrants had been transferred from Texas to Chicago.
He said Chicago is a welcoming city, and as such, numerous departments and agencies worked together to make sure we welcomed them with respect and dignity.
On the other hand, the White House has claimed that Governor Greg Abbott’s initiatives and another Republican governor’s similar campaign in Arizona, Doug Ducey, are causing havoc and utilising migrants as pawns in political games.
But according to press sources, the Democratic-run city of El Paso, Texas, also dispatched a bus carrying migrants to New York City this past week and planned to send one to Chicago.
Since Abbott launched the bus service, Democratic mayors in Washington and New York have clamoured for federal aid. Newly arrived migrants to Washington are struggling to secure permanent housing and medical care, Reuters reported last week.
The White House said Abbott’s efforts and a similar push by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, another Republican, were sowing chaos and using migrants as political pawns. But last week, the Democratic-led city of El Paso, Texas, also sent a busload of migrants to New York and reportedly planned to send one to Chicago.
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