Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) vowed to proceed busing migrants to Democratic cities, together with Chicago, regardless of ongoing criticism that his relocation program is inhumane and merciless.
Abbott, in a letter to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) on Monday, lambasted the Biden administration for the inflow of migrants alongside the U.S. border with Mexico whereas dismissing pleas that he cease sending migrants across the U.S.
Texas has spent hundreds of thousands in taxpayer funds on the busing program, which has included dropping folks off within the chilly in Washington on Christmas Eve and outdoors Vice President Kamala Harris’ dwelling.
“Because the mayor of a self-declared sanctuary metropolis, it’s ironic to listen to you complain about Chicago’s battle to take care of a couple of thousand unlawful immigrants, which is a fraction of the record-high numbers we take care of in Texas regularly,” Abbott wrote to the Chicago mayor. “To supply much-needed reduction to our overrun border communities, Texas started busing migrants to sanctuary cities reminiscent of your ‘Welcoming Metropolis.’”
“Till Biden secures the border to cease the influx of mass migration, Texas will proceed this crucial program,” he concluded.
Abbott’s response got here a day after Lightfoot urged the governor to cease busing migrants to her metropolis, saying he had deliberately created a “humanitarian disaster” by sending greater than 8,000 males, ladies and youngsters there from Texas. Chicago is a so-called sanctuary metropolis that has pledged to not ask any residents about their immigration standing or disclose such info to authorities. The town has additionally vowed to not deny any companies primarily based on immigration standing.
“Almost all of the migrants have been in dire want of meals, water, and clothes and lots of wanted in depth medical care. A number of the people you positioned on buses have been ladies in energetic labor, and a few have been victims of sexual assault,” Lightfoot mentioned in a letter to Abbott. “None of those pressing wants have been addressed in Texas. As an alternative, these people and households have been packed onto buses and shipped throughout the nation like freight with out regard to their private circumstances.”
Lightfoot went on to say she would attain out to the Federal Emergency Administration Company to ask that it cease sending funding to Texas, however famous she would slightly work with Abbott than in opposition to him. The Chicago mayor mentioned town has struggled to seek out house to deal with the migrants and has appealed to FEMA for federal funding.
The Division of Homeland Safety mentioned it’s making ready for a border inflow when Title 42 expires subsequent week. The rule, relationship from the pandemic, denied asylum to migrants amid the COVID-19 pandemic.