On Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott promised to send “even more buses” of migrants to Democrat “sanctuary cities,” including Washington, D.C., if the Biden administration moved forward with its reported plan to keep migrants in Texas.
The administration’s plan comes as they face pressure from left-wing officials in cities like New York over migrant traffic.
“Biden considers forcing migrant families to remain in Texas. This scam was tried years ago & was shot down by a judge,” Abbott said on Twitter. “We will send Biden the same swift justice.”
“And, we will add even more buses of migrants to Washington D.C.,” he said.
Abbott’s tweet came in response to an LA Times report that described a potential Department of Homeland Security policy, forcing some illegal immigrant families to remain in Texas by tracking them with GPS monitoring devices, including ankle bracelets.
The Times reported that the families would be put through an asylum process to determine if they could stay and could be more easily reported if they were not suitable to remain thanks to their proximity to the border.
The outlet highlighted that the concept echoed a Reagan-era plan which would have forced migrants to remain near the border while their applications were considered.
While the idea would tap into conservative arguments that migrants need to be detained or tracked so they can be deported quickly, rather than being released into the country with a notice to appear in court, the policy would place pressure on Texas and raise significant objections from lawmakers in the state.
The program would also expand the Family Expedited Removal Program, which imposes curfews and monitors family units that have traveled to large cities.
In response to the report, a DHS spokesperson said that the administration “is committed to expanding safe and orderly pathways for migrants to lawfully enter the United States, while imposing consequences to those who fail to use those pathways.”
“Since May 2023, DHS has removed or returned over 200,000 individuals, including over 17,000 individual family unit members,” they said. “DHS continuously holds policy and operational discussions on how to leverage our authorities to ensure a fair, humane, and effective immigration process that efficiently removes those without a lawful basis to stay in the country.”
The policy’s proposal comes as Democratic officials in areas such as Massachusetts, Chicago and New York City have begun pushing back even harder on the flood of migrants into their jurisdiction, many of whom have been bused to various “sanctuary cities,” by Abbott since last year.
Abbott announced Tuesday that his state government has sent more than 35,000 migrants to these cities, including more than 13,300 to New York City since August 2022.
Most recently, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has become increasingly adamant that the Biden administration takes more action. Adams said on Wednesday that the crisis threatens to “destroy New York City,” as more than 100,000 migrants have entered its shelter system since last year. It’s worth noting that in January of last year, Adams refused to reject a bill that gave illegal immigrants in New York City the right to vote.
“Let me tell you something, New Yorkers. Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this. I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy New York City,” Adams said Wednesday during a Town Hall meeting on the Upper West Side. “We’re getting 10,000 migrants a month.
“We had a $12 billion deficit that we’re going to have to cut. Every service in this city is going to be impacted. All of us,” Adams said. “It’s going to come to your neighborhoods. All of us are going to be impacted by this. I said it last year when we had 15,000. I’m telling you now with 110,000. The city we knew we’re about to lose. And we’re all in this together.”
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
