AUSTIN, Texas — Since 2022, as a part of his multibillion-dollar border security initiative – Operation Lone Star, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been transporting migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to Democratic-led cities across the country.

What You Need To Know

  • According to NPR, The Texas Newsroom obtained records under the Texas Public Information Act which found that the state spent more than $148 million to bus migrants to Democratic-led cities

  • As of December, more than 80,000 migrants were given free rides from Texas to these cities

  • Abbott is not the only governor to transport migrants out of state. Both Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, have their own busing programs

Nearly two years later, new reporting from NPR has found that the state has spent a hefty sum to bus those migrants to the cities outside of the Lone Star State. 

According to NPR, The Texas Newsroom obtained records under the Texas Public Information Act which found that the state spent more than $148 million to bus migrants to New York, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. 

As of December, more than 80,000 migrants were given free rides from Texas to these cities. 

Democrats across the country, including President Joe Biden, have condemned Abbott’s actions, calling them political stunts.

Back in December, Abbott sent a plane of migrants from El Paso to Chicago, escalating his operation. 

In early January, New York City sued more than a dozen of the bus companies that transported the migrants to their boroughs. The lawsuit claimed that the companies flouted state law. 

A couple of weeks later, a Texas transportation company sued the City of Chicago over its bus ordinance that restricted when and where buses from other cities can drop off migrants. 

Los Angeles City Council back in August announced it was looking into whether it could take legal action against Abbott. 

The Texas governor has previously criticized Los Angeles for its vote to become a sanctuary city and cited that as a reason to transport migrants in Texas there. 

“Los Angeles is a major city that migrants seek to go to, particularly now that its city leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary city status. Our border communities are on the front lines of President Biden’s border crisis, and Texas will continue providing this much-needed relief until he steps up to do his job and secure the border,” Abbott said after the first bus arrived in Los Angeles in June. 

Abbott is not the only governor to transport migrants out of state. Both Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, have their own busing programs. 

Although Arizona’s busing policy was created by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, Hobbs has continued and expanded the program, according to Axios. Tucson, Arizona, has been the busiest sector for illegal crossings in recent months.