"WASHINGTON — Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas devised a plan this month to
rattle the Biden administration by busing migrants from the southwest
border to the nation’s capital during a period of record crossings.
So far, though, the plan has not resulted in the chaos that Mr. Abbott predicted.
“I would like to say thank you to the governor of Texas,” Chadrack Mboyo-Bola, 26, said on Thursday morning, after he and 13 other migrants stepped off one of the chartered buses that had provided a 33-hour ride
paid for by the State of Texas. Blocks from the U.S. Capitol, they were
greeted by volunteers who would help them reach their desired
destinations around the country to await their day in immigration court.
Three days earlier, Mr. Mboyo-Bola and his family had crossed into the
United States from Mexico along the border in Central Texas after an
eight-week journey from Brazil. After spending a day in Border Patrol
custody in Eagle Pass, Texas, they and about 20 other new immigrants
accepted an offer to board a Washington-bound bus in nearby Del Rio.
Mr. Abbott says his goal is to draw attention to what he and other
Republicans describe as the failed immigration policies of President
Biden during a period of record crossings along the southwest border.
“The decision and the action to bus people from border communities was
to alleviate the strain that’s put on the local communities along the border,” the governor said at a news conference on Thursday. “I’m going to take the border to President Biden.”
Mr. Abbott’s plan, however, happens to fit into the Biden
administration’s strategy for responding to the surge in migrant
crossings, which officials anticipate will increase sharply once a
public health rule imposed during the coronavirus pandemic is lifted at
the end of May. The Biden plan includes working with state and local governments and nonprofits to provide support, assistance and
transportation to move migrants out of border communities and toward
their final destinations in a humane and orderly way.
“In a way, it’s actually perfect,” said Bilal Askaryar, a spokesman for Welcome With Dignity, a collective of about 100 local and national
groups that help migrants. “Unintentionally, Governor Abbott sent them
to one of the best places in the nation to welcome people.”
In truth, the migrants that Texas is sending to Washington are coming voluntarily and are only a fraction of the thousands crossing the border
daily. As of Monday, Mr. Abbott had sent about 195 migrants who
volunteered for the trip to Washington since the first bus arrived on
April 13, though more were en route. Mr. Mboyo-Bola’s bus was the eighth
from Texas; by Friday, two more had arrived. The Texas Division of
Emergency Management has been chartering the buses, according to Mr.
Abbott’s office."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/26/us/politics/abbott-immigration-texas-dc-biden.html
TB
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