Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Greg Abbott says Texas will use charter buses to ship ‘illegal immigrants’ to Washington DC

Texas governor wants to ship ‘hordes’ of migrants to DC

Bevan Hurley
Wednesday 06 April 2022 22:21 BST
Comments
Texas governor plans to ship illegal immigrants to Washington DC
Leer en Español

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the state plans to start transporting “illegal immigrants” to Washington DC by charter bus.

Mr Abbott said he is “fed up” with migrants being released into small towns in Texas by the federal government, and that he plans to drop the migrants near the steps of the US Capitol, at a press conference Wednesday.

Soon after the announcement, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he also planned to send migrants to “sanctuary states like Delaware”.

It comes after President Joe Biden announced the federal government would lift a public health order imposed by Donald Trump that blocked most asylum seekers from crossing the US-Mexico border during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Known as Title 42, the order led to the expulsion of 1.7m migrants.

Mr Abbott said on Wednesday he would help communities who “are being overwhelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants” who he claimed had been dropped off by the Biden administration.

“Texas is providing charter buses to send these illegal aliens... to Washington DC,” Mr Abbott said.

“We are sending them to the United States capitol where the Biden administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border.”

A Texas state official said as many as 900 buses could be used to transport the migrants to DC.

The administration is due to revoke Title 42 by 23 May.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in