Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday said he will keep sending illegal immigrants to the liberal cities of New York City and Washington D.C., despite a continuing feud with the Democratic mayors of those cities.
"Texas will continue busing migrants to NYC & D.C. to help our overrun border communities," Abbott said Friday.
Abbott’s office began busing migrants to Washington D.C. in April in response to the massive migrant crisis that border states are facing. It has recently also started sending migrants to the Big Apple as well, citing the city’s sanctuary city status.
Abbott’s office said Friday that it has so far bused more than 7,000 migrants to D.C. since April and has now sent more than 900 migrants this month. Arizona has bused over 1,000 migrants to Washington D.C. and has denied sending migrants to New York City.
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"This busing mission is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities," the statement from Texas said.
Both D.C. and NYC mayors have appealed for federal help, with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declaring a "humanitarian crisis" and calling for the deployment of the National Guard -- a request which has so far been denied by the Pentagon.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, has repeatedly taken aim at Abbott. Earlier this month he threatened to send New Yorkers to campaign against Abbott in Texas, and has described his moves as "anti-American."
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"He is an anti-American governor that is really going against everything we stand for. And I am going to do everything feasible to make sure the people of Texas realize how harmful he is to us globally," Adams said recently.
"He's a global embarrassment because this is not what we do as Americans, all of us," he said. "And I'm sure if he goes into his lineage, he came from somewhere and if his ancestors were treated the way he's treated these asylum seekers and migrants, then he would not be where he is right now."
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Abbott has brushed off that criticism, and has highlighted New York and Washington D.C.’s "sanctuary city" policies and other measures to make their cities welcoming places for those in the country illegally. He has also invited both mayors to the border.
"He's also being a hypocrite because New York City is a self-declared ‘sanctuary city,’" Abbott told ABC News this week. "And so why he's ever complaining for one moment about these people being bused into a city goes against his own self-declaration of being a sanctuary city."
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Abbott also said the moves were necessary to highlight the impact of the border crisis -- where there have been more than 2 million migrant encounters this fiscal year alone -- to the rest of the country.
"Frankly, I don't know of a larger crisis facing our country right now," he said. "Before we began busing migrants to New York, it was just Texas and Arizona that bore the brunt of all the chaos and problems that come with it. Now, the rest of America can understand exactly what is going on."