Photo by Hola News
Text: Cuba News 360 Newsroom
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has dispatched the first bus of illegal immigrants to Washington DC as part of his new plan to counter federal policy during the current immigration crisis on the US southern border.
According to a Fox News report, Abbott announced last week that he would direct the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to direct migrants released from federal custody in that area to the U.S. capital and other locations outside of his state to transport, but the White House considered his words a “publicity stunt”.
The first Texas bus picks up illegal immigrants from the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
Biden refuses to look at the mess he’s wreaked on the border.
So Texas brings the frontier to him. https://t.co/wHZkwnD305
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 13, 2022
But on Wednesday morning, the first bus arrived a few blocks from the US Capitol, where passengers checked in with officials who cut off the wristbands they were wearing before they were allowed to depart.
According to US media, the migrants came from Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela and entered the US through the Del Río sector in Texas.
For its part, TDEM said several buses drove to border communities over the weekend, where officials in the area identified these immigrants. These vehicles have the capacity and the necessary supplies to transport up to 40 migrants to the American capital.
Fox News is questioning the governor’s legal authority to transport buses full of immigrants to the US Capitol because state governments cannot set their own immigration policies. However, Abbott argues that the federal government is not adequately addressing the situation and Texans demand and deserve an aggressive and comprehensive strategy to secure their border.
As the federal government continues to ignore the border crisis, Texas will remain steadfast in its efforts to close the gaps and keep Texans safe.
We shouldn’t have to bear the burden of Biden’s failure to secure our border.
A second bus is on the way. pic.twitter.com/LpttNUscFk
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 14, 2022
Abbott said in a statement, “As the federal government continues to roll back the common sense policies that once kept our communities safe, our local police force has gone to great lengths to protect Texans from dangerous criminals, deadly drugs and illegal smuggling that are sweeping the state.” flood.
The Washington Post reported this April that the number of Cuban immigrants crossing the southern land border into the US is the highest since the Mariel Boat Lift in 1980.
In March alone, more than 32,000 Cubans were taken into US custody along the border with Mexico, twice as many as in February, according to unreleased US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) figures obtained by US media.
The CBP is on track to arrest more than 155,000 Cubans in the current fiscal year, records show, nearly four times the 2021 total and a 12-fold increase from 2020, according to the Washington Post.