OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Last month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started making good on a pledge to begin bussing migrants who crossed illegally into the United States to Washington, D.C., so the Democrat-controlled Congress and the Biden administration would be forced to deal with them.
Now, another Republican governor is following suit.
According to ABC15, Gov. Doug Ducey has also started bussing illegal aliens to the nation’s capital ahead of a federal court ruling that will decide whether the Biden administration’s ending of Title 42 — a rule authorizing the rapid deportation of illegal migrants enacted as a pandemic-control measure during the Trump administration — was improperly ended.
The report added:
A local non-profit near Yuma is the staging ground for the migrants. Two buses have left so far, including one Thursday. A total of 60 people so far from 12 countries. “With Arizona community resources under all-time demand, and little action or assistance from the federal government, individuals who entered Arizona seeking asylum have the opportunity to voluntarily be transported to Washington, D.C.,” Governor Ducey said.
Unlike many immigrants who show up at the border, Customs and Border Patrol processed the migrant’s asylum claims and released them. Meanwhile, in Mexico, thousands wait for a chance to enter the United States.
“I think the time is needed for somebody to sit down with the people who are organizing this and find out when they’ll have their act together,” said Arizona Congressman Tom O’Halleran (D) Arizona 1st district.
Arizona Gov. @DougDucey has started busing migrants to DC and is asking Biden to pick up the tab
20 migrants have arrived in the nation's capital so far through Ducey's effort and none of them are staying in DC.
MORE HERE: https://t.co/lM7iBgc4ur
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) May 12, 2022
O’Halleran toured the border in Cochise County last week and pressed the Biden Administration to delay ending Title 42.
“Both the Border Patrol and immigration at the ports of entry did not give me the confidence that they have been brought up to speed in a collaborative process,” O’Halleran said.
If federal courts rule that Title 42 was ended properly, then it will go away in just a few weeks. That said, O’Halleran noted that according to federal immigration officials he spoke to, the Biden administration is nowhere near ready to handle the tens of thousands more migrants who are waiting just inside Mexico for the rule to end so they can cross.
“I don’t think it’s going to work out,” O’Halleran said. “I think there’s going to be a tremendous amount of backlog. There are going to be people going through the process efficiently. But for the most part, it’s going to be chaotic.”
U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is also not convinced that the Department of Homeland Security is ready for the influx.
“DHS needs to put the necessary resources on the ground and implement processing system improvements in a manner that will keep Arizona communities safe, and treat migrants fairly and humanely,” Sinema told DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a Senate hearing she chaired last week, ABC15 noted.
The outlet added: “The Biden Administration’s public insistence to rescind Title 42 on May 23 will get its day in court Friday. Arizona and 20 other states will try and convince a Federal Judge in Louisiana it’s too soon to lift Title 42. Judge Robert Summerhays indicated last month he is inclined to issue a temporary restraining order delaying the end of Title 42.”
In mid-April, the first buses full of illegal migrants from Texas arrived in D.C.
Taxes Governor keeping his promise to his state https://t.co/eQ59Jp6Kwx
— TheCajunConservativeShow (@thecajunshow) April 13, 2022
“First Texas bus drops off migrants
blocks from US Capitol in Washington, DC”Nice little present this lovely Wednesday morning for our wonderful leaders. pic.twitter.com/VFyk13Ydbh
— lawless (@_salawless) April 13, 2022
First Texas bus drops off migrants blocks from US Capitol in Washington, DC https://t.co/lXHaDgtxJW
— Godday Akoh (@jsp_akoh) April 13, 2022
“TDEM said it dispatched buses over the weekend to border communities where it coordinated with officials to identify these immigrants. The agency added that each bus has the capacity and supplies necessary to carry up to 40 migrants released in Texas communities and transport them to Washington, D.C.,” Fox News reported.
“Abbott announced last week that he was directing the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to transport migrants released from federal custody in Texas to the nation’s capital and other locations outside his state,” Fox News reported.
“The bus pulled up at approximately 8 a.m. local time, blocks away from the U.S. Capitol building. Individuals disembarked one by one except for family units who exited together. They checked in with officials and had wristbands they were wearing cut off before being told they could go,” the report added.
“According to TDEM, Abbott’s plan is already working. The agency told Fox News on Monday that many of the communities that originally reached out for support – from the Rio Grande Valley to Terrell County – say the federal government stopped dropping immigrants in their towns since Abbott’s announcement on April 6,” the report continued.
