Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP
Texas Governor Greg Abbott answers questions during a press conference at the Texas Department of Public Safety Weslaco Regional Office on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in Weslaco, Texas. Abbott says the state will provide migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border bus charters to Washington, D.C.
Texas will send busloads of undocumented immigrants to the steps of the US Capitol, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday, in response to the Biden administration ending a pandemic-era health order that effectively blocked migrants from entering the US.
Former President Donald Trump implemented the order, known as Title 42, at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. His administration said the order was to help prevent the spread of the virus across the US’ borders with Mexico and Canada, but public health officials, at the time, suspected political motivations.
The Biden administration announced last week the order would end on May 23.
“To help local officials whose communities are being overwhelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants who are being dropped off by the administration, Texas is providing charter buses to send these illegal immigrants who have been dropped off by the Biden Administration to Washington, DC,” Abbott said during a news conference Wednesday along the US-Mexico border in Weslaco, Texas.
The state has assembled a pool of up to 900 buses for the operation, according to Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, who joined the governor Wednesday.
A migrant who has been processed and released by the Department of Homeland Security “must volunteer to be transported and show documentation from DHS” in order to board a bus or flight, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
Abbott, who is up for reelection this year, has been a vocal critic of President Joe Biden’s White House, pinning an increase in migrants on its immigration policies, though there were spikes during Trump’s administration as well. This latest effort by the governor is part of a string of initiatives in the last year to limit undocumented migrants entering the US from Mexico and to police the border.
When Title 42 ends, the federal government is planning for up to 18,000 illegal immigrants crossing the border each day, as a worst-case scenario, Abbott noted.
“That’s more than a half a million illegal immigrants every single month from more than 150 different countries across the globe,” the governor said. “That’s far beyond what Homeland Security Secretary Johnson said was a crisis. It is unprecedented and dangerous.”
The head of US Border Patrol told CNN last month that he’s getting ready for as many as 8,000 people to be apprehended daily this spring. Deteriorating conditions in Latin America, worsened by the pandemic, are among the reasons for the migrations.
Also on Wednesday, Abbott signed what he called a “zero-tolerance policy” for unsafe vehicles used to smuggle migrants across the border and said that it will be implemented immediately. The governor claims the policy is a byproduct of cartel crossings at the border and noted there may be more stopping of traffic from Mexico into Texas for vehicle inspections.
In March 2021, Abbott launched “Operation Lone Star,” citing a crisis at the US southern border. The operation leaned on resources from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard to police the border. The operation at one point swelled to more than 10,000 service members.
As Abbott has deployed thousands of personnel to the US-Mexico border, the operation has been slammed as overtly political and a waste of resources by Democratic lawmakers and even some of the National Guard members participating in the mission.
Other Abbott initiatives have included plans to build a border wall.
The busing and unsafe vehicle policies will be added to Operation Lone Star, and Abbott said more directives will be announced next week.
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Eric Gay
FILE - A Haitian migrant uses the Rio Grande to take a bath after crossing a dam from Mexico to the United States, Sept. 17, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. The Border Patrol encountered migrants in South Texas more often than ever in June and July, dashing expectations for a common summer slowdown. In September, about 15,000 mostly Haitian refugees were camped under a bridge in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
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Felix Marquez
FILE - Mounted U.S. Border Patrol agents attempt to contain migrants as they cross the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 19, 2021. The administration began a massive expulsion of thousands of Haitians while allowing thousands of others to stay in the U.S. The uneven response, which at one point included Border Patrol agents on horseback appearing to use reins as whips to corral Haitian asylum seekers, sparked sharp criticism and underscored for many a failed border policy. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
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Julio Cortez
FILE - A Border Patrol agent talks to migrants after they were detained and taken into custody, March 21, 2021, in Abram-Perezville, Texas. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
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Eric Gay
FILE - Haitian migrants walk to a bus after they were processed and released after spending time at a makeshift camp near the International Bridge, Sept. 19, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. Biden and senior officials talked tough — "Do not come," Vice President Kamala Harris warned on a June visit to Guatemala, repeating herself for emphasis — but migrants who kept coming spoke of the change in presidential administrations and stories from friends and relatives who were quickly released in the United States. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
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Gregory Bull
FILE - A group of migrants mainly from Honduras and Nicaragua wait along a road after turning themselves in upon crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, in La Joya, Texas, May 17, 2021. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
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Jacquelyn Martin
FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris listens to a question during a news conference, June 7, 2021, at the National Palace in Guatemala City. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. Biden and senior officials talked tough — "Do not come," Harris warned, repeating herself for emphasis. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
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Julio Cortez
FILE - A child sleeps on the shoulder of a woman as they prepare to board a bus to San Antonio moments after a group of migrants, many from Haiti, were released from custody upon crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in search of asylum in Del Rio, Texas on Sept. 22, 2021. Biden and senior officials talked tough — "Do not come," Vice President Kamala Harris warned on a June visit to Guatemala, repeating herself for emphasis — but migrants who kept coming spoke of the change in presidential administrations and stories from friends and relatives who were quickly released in the United States. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
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Evan Vucci
FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris, left, listens as President Joe Biden delivers remarks on immigration, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Feb. 2, 2021. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
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Dario Lopez-Mills
FILE - A woman from Guatemala weeps as she carries her child after being smuggled across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas, March 30, 2021. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)
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Dario Lopez-Mills
FILE - Young child walks alone through the brush after being smuggled across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas, March 24, 2021. Children traveling alone shattered previous highs in March, making up most of the more than 4,500 people housed in temporary tents that were designed for 250 under COVID-19 standards. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)
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Joel Martinez
FILE - Migrants walk to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande on May 14, 2021, in Roma. Texas. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, File)
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Dario Lopez-Mills
FILE - Migrant families wade through shallow waters towards Roma, Texas, March 24, 2021. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)
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Dario Lopez-Mills
FILE - A child weeps as he is unloaded from an inflatable raft after being smuggled into the United States by crossing the Rio Grande River in Roma, Texas. March 28, 2021. Children traveling alone shattered previous highs in March, making up most of the more than 4,500 people housed in temporary tents that were designed for 250 under COVID-19 standards. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)
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Fernando Llano
FILE - Migrants, many from Haiti, wade across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, to return to Ciudad Acuna, some to avoid possible deportation from the U.S. and others to get supplies on Sept. 22, 2021. In September, about 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants camped in the small Texas border town of Del Rio. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)
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Joel Martinez
FILE - Immigrants are processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande on May 22, 2021, in Roma, Texas. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, File)
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Felix Marquez
FILE - Migrants, many from Haiti, wade across the Rio Grande river from Del Rio, Texas, to return to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, Sept. 20, 2021, to avoid deportation from the U.S. The Border Patrol encountered migrants in South Texas more often than ever in June and July, dashing expectations for a common summer slowdown. In September, about 15,000 mostly Haitian refugees were camped under a bridge in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
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Gregory Bull
FILE - Three young migrants hold hands as they run in the rain at an intake area after turning themselves in upon crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Roma, Texas, May 11, 2021. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
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Felix Marquez
FILE - Migrants, most from Haiti, cross the Rio Grande towards Del Rio, Texas, from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, Sept. 23, 2021. In September, about 15,000 mostly Haitian refugees were camped under a bridge in the small border town. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
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Dario Lopez-Mills
FILE - Children lie inside a pod at the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in Donna, Texas, March 30, 2021. Health and Human Services belatedly, aided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, opened about a dozen emergency holding centers within about a month to process unaccompanied children. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, Pool, File)
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Julio Cortez
FILE - People cross the U.S.-Mexico border early March 24, 2021, in Roma, Texas. The Rio Grande Valley came alive each night with inflatable rafts carrying families across the meandering river. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
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Jacquelyn Martin
FILE - Supporters of immigration reform march while asking for a path to citizenship and an end to detentions and deportations, April 28, 2021, in Washington. Biden took office on Jan. 20 and almost immediately, numbers of migrants exceeded expectations. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
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Julio Cortez
FILE - Migrants, many from Haiti, are seen at an encampment along the Del Rio International Bridge near the Rio Grande, Sept. 21, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. About 15,000 mostly Haitian refugees were camped under the bridge in the small border town. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
