Abbott plan to bus migrants to DC condemned as ‘gimmick’ by Texas Republican as it emerges scheme would be voluntary

Governor’s bussing and chartered flight program will be entirely voluntary, according to officials

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he will round up migrants at the border and ship them on busses to Washington DC, where they will be unloaded at the steps of the US Capitol.

"President Biden refuses to come to the southern border to see the chaos he has created. So, we're taking the border to him. Texas will be transporting illegal immigrants to the U.S. Capitol," Mr Abbott wrote.

But only if they want to go.

The governor's move was clearly meant to be a show of force to Texan conservatives ahead of his gubernatorial race this fall, but upon further scrutiny appears to be a free ride programme for migrants interested in leaving Texas.

After the announcement, Mr Abbott's office clarified his threat, noting that the programme will be completely voluntary, and would only happen after migrants who are stopped at the border are processed and released by the Department of Homeland Security.

Mr Abbott won't just be spending taxpayers money on busses either; his office claimed he will also charter flights for the migrants as well.

Immigration advocates noted that - minus Mr Abbott's anti-immigrant rhetoric and intentions - state-funded transportation for asylum-seekers is a humane idea that should see further implementation.

The proposed publicity stunt has earned Mr Abbott little more than criticisim from both the left and the right, according to The Texas Tribune.

"Any forcible busing of migrants across the country would be outrageous and blatantly unconstitutional," Kate Huddleston, a staff attorney at ACLU of Texas, said in a statement. "Given that Abbott cannot dictate where people are sent, he has already backpedaled on this heinous plan, announcing that it will be only voluntary."

Republican State Representative Matt Schaefer called Mr Abbott's plan a "gimmick" in a tweet.

Beto O'Rourke, who is running against Mr Abbott for governor, took the opportunity to swipe at his opponent, saying the bussing scheme was indicative of the Republican's lack of focus.

"If Abbott focused on solutions instead of stunts, then Texas could have made some real progress on the issue over the last seven years," Mr O'Rourke said in a statement.

Democratic State Representative Mary Gonzalez, who serves as the vice chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus denounced the governor's plan as a political stunt.

"Instead of using our tax dollars to drive economic growth and build infrastructure, Governor Abbott is funding political stunts at the expense of Texas families and our troops," she said.

The governor's plan is largely a response to Joe Biden's announcement that the federal government was ending emergency health orders issued during the pandemic that allowed immigration authorities to turn migrants away at the border, even if they were seeking asylum.

The order was put in place during former President Donald Trump's administration. Without the order, immigration officials believe thousands of migrants will continue their attempts to cross the border.

Mr Abbott claims that federal officials are planning for more than 18,000 migrant crossings each day at the southern border.

He also said the state will utilize boat blockades on the Rio Grande and razor wire in low-river crossing areas that see substantial migrant traffic.

Those efforts will be added to Mr Abbott's already extensive - and costly - measures to try to curb migrants from entering Texas. He enacted "Operation Lone Star," which activated National Guardsmen from across the state and sent them to guard the border. Mr Abbott claims the operation has apprehended more than 200,000 migrants, resulting in more than 9,000 felony charges and more than 11,000 criminal arrests.

That operation has been largely criticised as ineffective by both by lawmakers and by Guardsmen who have been deployed. Further, a ProPublica investigation found that most of the success Mr Abbott has attributed to the operation is misleading and inaccurate.

At the same time, at least four Guardsmen have died in what are suspected suicides while deployed to the southern border, and several have complained of poor living conditions and a lack of direction or clear objectives, according to The Army Times.

Unlike the active military, Guardsmen generally have jobs and responsibilities they leave for a short time in order to respond to disasters or exceptional events. The Guardsmen at the border claim they have no idea when they will be allowed to return home and have expressed fears they will lose their jobs.