Abbott Sends 300th Busload of Migrants to Chicago
(TheRedWire.com) – In 2015, Donald Trump came down the escalator of Trump Tower and announced his candidacy for president. On that day, he declared he would fight against illegal immigration, and as president, he moved to build the southern border wall and instituted the remain-in-Mexico policy. During the 2020 presidential election, then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden promised to reverse Trump’s policies.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, illegal immigration has spiked to record levels. That hasn’t sat well with several southern border governors, especially Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. In April, the governor announced he would begin busing the immigrants from Texas to large Democratic-led sanctuary cities. On Thursday, November 10, Abbott tweeted that the 300th busload of migrants had just departed for Chicago.
The 300th Texas bus of migrants just left for Chicago.
As Biden does nothing, Texas will continue taking unprecedented action to relieve our overwhelmed border communities & secure the border.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 11, 2022
Texas Sends 300th Busload to Chicago
According to the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), illegal immigration spiked to record levels in the fiscal year 2022. From October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022, CBP reported agents encountered 2,378,044 unlawful immigrants. In October, they encountered over 60,000 more than in October 2021 at 230,678. In April, Abbott declared that the state would take matters into its own hands. Texas began busing migrants to Washington, DC, on a voluntary basis. They expanded the busloads to New York and Chicago in the following months.
On August 31, the governor said the program’s purpose was to give small, overrun border communities some “much-needed relief.” Regarding Chicago, Abbott stated Mayor Lori Lightfoot loves to welcome everyone regardless of their legal status. He said he looked forward to her welcoming and providing them the resources of a sanctuary city with the “capacity to serve them.”
The Problem Keeps Getting Worse
Abbott has often said the Biden administration has done nothing to solve the illegal immigration crisis. Since April, the Lone Star State has bused almost 10,000 migrants to sanctuary cities. The governor’s challenge to the administration has tested their social safety nets.
So far, Texas has spent approximately $12 million to relocate illegal immigrants to large, liberal, sanctuary cities.
In August, former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said President Biden’s policies were “killing the incentive” for migrants to legally come to the United States. He stated the administration overturned four years of progress on the southern border nearly overnight when it re-instituted the “failed catch-and-release policy” under former President Barack Obama.
Wolf said Biden not only encouraged the unlawful activities but also hurt the morale of the Border Patrol and other agencies that enforce immigration laws.
In the days and months ahead, Texas will likely continue to send busloads of illegal immigrants to liberal cities.
Copyright 2022, TheRedWire.com
