Gov. Abbott orders Texas to inspect vehicles at border, charter buses to ship migrants to DC
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas will begin busing migrants to the steps of the U.S. Capitol and inspecting vehicles driven in from Mexico, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Wednesday in what he called an “unprecedented” response to illegal immigration.
Details of the plan, such as the cost and the logistics, are thin.
Abbott acknowledged the additional inspections — meant to root out smugglers bringing drugs, immigrants and other “illegal cargo” through the international points of entry — will “dramatically slow” traffic from Mexico, which is the state’s largest trading partner.
State officials also said they will charter “as many buses as we need” to transport migrants the nearly 28 hours from the border to Washington, D.C. Texas also will offer flights to migrants willing to leave the state, the governor said.
Abbott, a Republican who is seeking re-election this year and has made border security the top issue of his campaign, said the federal government already provides migrants with transportation to San Antonio, Texas.
“Let’s continue the ride all the way to Washington, D.C.,” he said at a press conference in Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley.
For several days, Abbott has been saying that the state anticipates a huge surge in migrants next month, when the federal government lifts a public-health order known as Title 42 that has been used to quickly expel migrants at the U.s.-mexico border.
The latest measures escalate Abbott’s clash with President Joe Biden over how to handle illegal immigration. Already, Abbott has sent thousands of state police and Texas National Guard soldiers to the border to arrest migrants on trespassing charges. The governor also has committed $1 billion to erecting a barrier along the state’s border with Mexico after Biden issued an order to discontinue construction of a wall begun by former President Donald Trump.