State Watch

Abbott hits Biden on immigration in New York after sending busloads of migrants to city

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks after signing one of several Public Safety bills at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) took a swing Wednesday at President Biden over the migrant crisis after busing more people to New York a few days ago.

“The lead importer of migrants to New York is not Texas; it’s Joe Biden,” Abbott said at a Wednesday event at the Manhattan Institute in New York, according to The Associated Press.

Abbott and the Texas Division of Emergency Management chartered buses that left Del Rio and Eagle Pass and headed to New York Friday, according to the New York Post. The busing came in spite of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) saying the state is at “capacity.”

“Texas border towns should not have to shoulder the burden of Biden’s open border policies,” Abbott posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Texas will continue to send buses to sanctuary cities to provide relief to overrun border towns.”

The Texas governor has bused thousands of migrants to New York, Denver and Chicago, among other large cities.


The Biden administration has taken issue with Abbott’s tactics.

The Justice Department sued Texas over a barrier in the Rio Grande made to block migrants from making it over the border in July. The suit is aimed at compelling Abbott to remove the barrier.

“We allege that Texas has flouted federal law by installing a barrier in the Rio Grande without obtaining the required federal authorization,” U.S. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement announcing the suit.