Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has started busing migrants from the border to Washington, D.C., and he hopes President Joe Biden will eventually pay for the effort.
One bus had already arrived in Washington and another was on its way as migrants continue to pour over the Arizona border in anticipation of Title 42’s expected end, Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin told The Daily Caller News Foundation. Ducey intends to bill the Biden administration for the program.
“This is a problem caused by Washington. So we are bringing it to Washington. This is the flow of asylum seekers, migrants entering into the United States or coming into our or entering through Arizona because it’s easy and bearing the burden for this is our communities. Like folks in Yuma, where hospitals, community organizations, nongovernmental organizations are being strained tremendously. So, the goal here is to alleviate the burden for Arizonans,” Karamargin told TheDCNF.
“The funds will be coming out of our border states border security fund, but we will be sending the bill to Washington. They caused it, they should pay for it,” he added.
20 migrants were on the first bus that arrived Wednesday and 40 were on the second bus, Karamargin said. Each bus can accommodate 40 migrants.
The migrants volunteered to take the buses as another option to get to the east coast, according to Karamargin. They are permitted to exit the buses in other states where the buses stop to refuel and change drivers.
Ducey’s office is working with nongovernmental organizations in the Washington area to help the migrants once they get to the nation’s capital.
Ducey’s announcement follows Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ongoing effort to bus migrants to Washington, which started in April.
Migrants on Abbott’s buses who previously spoke with TheDCNF said they were going to Kentucky, Florida, Maine, and New York. Not a single one of them planned to stay in Washington after making their long journeys from Angola, Cuba, and Venezuela.
THREAD: This morning I spoke with migrants departing Gov. Abbott’s buses in DC. Here’s what they had to say:
This group, which is traveling with children as young as 8 months old, is from Angola, Africa. They told me they’re headed to Maine. 1/6 https://t.co/L9gigs5zOw pic.twitter.com/IoqIxIESk2
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) May 4, 2022
The migrants on Ducey’s buses, most of whom are adults, so far are from Angola, Brazil, Congo, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Peru, Senegal and Uzbekistan, Karamargin said, and pledged to go to Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, North Carolina, Carolina, Florida, Virginia and West Virginia.
* Article from: The Daily Caller
