Published on: 12.08.2022 – 14:57
The Republican governor of Texas has put migration issues at the heart of his re-election campaign. And Greg Abbott has been at odds with Democrats on the issue. He decided to charter buses to transport migrants who had entered the US illegally to Democratic strongholds: Washington since April and now New York.
“New York is the ideal destination for these migrants,” Greg Abbott said Friday, August 5. They’ll be able to “benefit from all the reception services of a haven city that the mayor boasts about,” the conservative-elect quipped, while metropolitan Democratic leaders pride themselves on leading a city that’s managed to withstand various waves of immigration to integrate .
In April, Greg Abbott began this showdown with the federal capital, Washington. He chartered hundreds of buses into the city. Buses began traveling to New York on Friday, August 5, and the two cities’ elected Democrats denounced the Texas governor’s use of migrants as “political pawns”.
Request for federal aid to deal with migrant influx
The City of New York City dispatched staff and volunteers to the Manhattan Bus Station to accommodate these buses. But the Mayor Eric Adams asks for support from the country. His Washington counterpart did the same in July, judging that the arrivals caused a “humanitarian crisis.” And to hit back at Greg Abbott, the mayor of New York is also threatening to charter buses: he plans to bring New Yorkers to Texas to protest Governor seeks re-election.
.@GregAbbott_TX used innocent people as political pawns to create a crisis. New Yorkers are stepping up to fix the problem—these are our city’s values.
But we need the help of the federal government – money, technical assistance and more. pic.twitter.com/cOdXrULpcC
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) August 7, 2022