Texas spent over $12M to bus immigrants to Washington D.C., New York
New data that CNN requested from the Texas Division of Emergency Management says that Texas spent a total of $12,707,720.92 to pay Texas-based Wynne Transportation to bus the immigrants to the two cities. The immigrants are only bused out of state with the written permission of the person being transported, CNN reported.
Abbott said in a Friday, August 26, news release that busing immigrants out of the state provides “relief to our overwhelmed border communities” and supports Operation Lone Star, which puts Texas National Guard soldiers at the border. Abbott’s press secretary, Renae Eze, sent a statement to MySA reasserting claims of “reckless open border policies” that have created a “Biden-made crisis” at the Texas-Mexico border.
Gov. Abbott has called the situation at the border a “crisis,” blaming the Biden administration and “open border” policies.
Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
The statement echoes what the governor said in June soon after 53 immigrants were found dead after suffocating from heat in the back of a semi-truck trailer in San Antonio. He vowed in June to create a Texas Department of Public Safety task force and increase the number of truck checkpoints in South Texas. The statement says Texas has allocated over $4 billion of Texas taxpayer money on these efforts.
“Until President Biden and Congress do their jobs and secure our southern border, Texas will continue utilizing every strategy to address this border crisis and protect Texans,” Eze said in the statement.
The Biden administration continued the COVID-19-era Title 42 border policy, which forces the expulsion of immigrants based on an ongoing public health crisis, long after Donald Trump was voted out of office. Attempts to end the policy have been held up in Texas courts. However, the Biden administration convinced Mexico to contribute $1.5 billion to “smart” border technology and to “modernize and improve infrastructure along key parts of their border,” AP reported in July.
Texas agencies have provided conflicting numbers on the immigrants bused out of the state, CNN reports, ranging from 8,051 to 9,033. That figures to at least $1,400 per migrant. CNN also reports that the state has trying to collect private donations to pay for busing immigrants, but has only received $167,828 as of August 17.
