Some migrants Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is transporting from the border are getting off the buses headed to Washington, D.C. to stay in states on the way, Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition Director Tiffany Burrow told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hands migrants over to Burrow’s nongovernmental group, which helps them find transportation to their final destination in the U.S. Burrow said migrants at the organization are given the option to take Abbott’s buses to D.C. (RELATED: ‘The Calm Before The Storm’: Law Enforcement Prepares For Migrant Deluge Ahead Of Biden’s Title 42 Decision)
However, Burrow said that some migrants are getting off the buses before they reach D.C.
“If the bus stops at a gas station in Alabama, by all means, a person can get off and has … we’ve had folks, you know, in all different states that are on the way to D.C.,” she told the DCNF.
Abbott pledged to bus migrants to D.C. on April 6 in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) announcement that Title 42, the policy used to quickly expel certain migrants during COVID-19, will end May 23. A federal judge ordered the Biden administration Wednesday to keep Title 42 implemented for the following 14 days in a lawsuit Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is leading against the CDC’s decision.
Several buses have already reached D.C., but have been fairly empty. The first bus had 24 migrants and the second bus had 14 migrants, Abbott spokesperson Sheridan Nolen previously told the DCNF. Each bus can accommodate 40 people, the Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) previously told the DCNF.
It’s unclear how much the effort has cost the state, which is asking for donations to fund the effort.
Neither TDEM, nor Abbott’s office responded to requests for comment.
* story by The Daily Caller
