Plans announced by Texas governor Greg Abbott that attempt to send undocumented migrants away from the southern border on buses to Washington were met with bipartisan criticism on Wednesday.
Abbott, a Republican, told reporters that the state would respond to the Biden administration’s decision to rescind a hardline Trump-era immigration policy by placing state troopers in riot gear at the border and then putting migrants on buses bound for DC.
But shortly after his press conference announcing the new policy, the governor issued a release that significantly softened the plan, clarifying that any transportation out of the state would be done voluntarily and only after an individual had been processed by the Department of Homeland security for release into the US.
The plans also includes measures to begin “enhanced safety inspections” of commercial vehicles coming across the Texas border with Mexico, which the governor acknowledged would “dramatically slow” traffic at the border.
The botched announcement came after the Biden administration last week said it would rescind Title 42 restrictions at the southern border. The policy, introduced by the Trump administration, allowed border officials the power to remove undocumented migrants under public health guidance before they could claim asylum. 1.7 million people had been removed from the US under the program, the majority under the Biden administration.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] announced the policy would end on 23 May as the White House plans for an increase in irregular arrivals at the border.
On Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans condemned Abbott’s announcement.
Beto O’Rourke, the former Democratic US congressman, who is running for Texas governor this year as Abbott faces re-election, described the announcement as a “political stunt”.
“If Abbott focused on solutions instead of stunts, then Texas could have made some real progress on this issue over the last seven years,” O’Rourke said in a statement.
In a statement reported by the Texas Tribune, ACLU of Texas staff attorney Kate Huddleston said: “Any forcible busing of migrants across the country would be outrageous and blatantly unconstitutional. Given that Abbott cannot dictate where people are sent, he has already backpedaled on this heinous plan, announcing that it will be only voluntary.”
Meanwhile, Texas Republican state representative Matt Schaefer called the announcement “a gimmick” in a post on social media.
