Despite pleas for him to stop, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has expanded the state’s program of busing migrants to Democrat-led cities.

What You Need To Know

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday announced the state has dropped off a busload of migrants in Denver, Colorado

  • Texas since 2022 has bused roughly 19,000 migrants to Democrat-led cities including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Chicago

  • Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancok tweeted about the policy, calling it “more political theater pitting jurisdictions against each other and exacerbating this situation instead of advocating for real solutions”

  • The announcement came a week after the pandemic-era Title 42 rule was lifted at the border

On Thursday, Abbott announced Texas has sent the first busload of migrants to Denver, Colorado. Since 2022, the state has bused thousands of migrants to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Abbott in a news release said the migrants were dropped off at 14th Street and Court Place Thursday afternoon.

The announcement came a week after the pandemic-era Title 42 rule was lifted at the border. It allowed authorities to send migrants back across the border in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Since that policy ended, the Biden administration has reported a decline in migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Texas’ overwhelmed and overrun border communities should not have to shoulder the flood of illegal immigration due to President Biden’s reckless open border policies, like his mass catch and release without court dates or any way to track them,” Abbott wrote. “Until the President and his Administration step up and fulfill their constitutional duty to secure the border, the State of Texas will continue busing migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities like Denver to provide much-needed relief to our small border towns.” 

Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock responded to Abbott’s announcement concerning the busing on Twitter.

“What’s happening at the border and now at the doorsteps of cities across the country is a humanitarian crisis. What none of us need is more political theater pitting jurisdictions against each other and exacerbating this situation instead of advocating for real solutions,” he wrote.

While Denver doesn’t identify as a sanctuary city, according to the Denver Post, Hancock has described it as a “welcoming city,” one that has passed laws in recent years aimed at making immigrants feel welcomed.

On April 30, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent a letter to Abbott urging him to stop busing migrants to her city.

“I am, yet again, appealing to your better nature and asking you to stop this inhumane and dangerous action,” Lightfoot wrote. “Since we began responding to the arrival of migrants sent by your delegation in August 2022, we have shouldered the responsibility of caring for more than 8,000 men, women, and children with no resources of their own.”

Abbott responded, vowing to continue doing so.

“As the mayor of a self-declared sanctuary city, it is ironic to hear you complain about Chicago’s struggle to deal with a few thousand illegal immigrants, which is a fraction of the record-high numbers we deal with in Texas on a regular basis,” he wrote.