Gov. Abbott says Texas will bus migrants to D.C. after President Biden lifts Title 42 

On Wednesday, Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott announced that the state would be sending migrants who cross the border illegally to Washington, D.C. in response to the Biden administration lifting Title 42.

Title 42 is a public health measure that could be deployed in case of emergency to block asylum claims or push out migrants due to contagion risk.

The policy had been implemented during the Trump presidency over concerns that arose in the coronavirus pandemic, and it continued when President Joe Biden took office, with the administration announcing recently that it would be lifted next month.

Abbott added that the state would be implementing several measures in order to curb border crossing in response, with the governor saying that numbers at the border would increase dramatically.  

Abbott said that one of the ways he intends to remove migrants from the state is by sending them east to the nation’s Capital.

“To help local officials whose communities are being overwhelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants who are being dropped off by the Biden administration, Texas is providing charter buses to send these illegal immigrants who have been dropped off by the Biden administration to Washington, D.C.,” Abbott noted.  

Nim Kidd, the Texas Division of Emergency management Chief will be heading up the efforts of the program. Kidd said at a press conference that his agency will start the plans laid out by the governor on Thursday and “will use as many buses as we need to follow the governor’s direction to get this done.”

Kidd added that the department used 900 buses for operations previously, while Abbott emphasized the first bus would be headed to Washington, D.C.