Texas Governor Greg Abbott has accused President Joe Biden of “abandoning” national security as he continues his drive of sending undocumented migrants from his state to Washington DC.
In an interview with Fox News’ Martha MacCullum on Wednesday, Mr Abbott said he is “bringing the border to Biden”.
“Border security has always been the federal government’s responsibility until the Biden administration,” he said.
“The Biden administration has abandoned its responsibility to secure the borders and even more dangerous, the Biden administration has abandoned its responsibility for national security.”
“Because Martha as you know there have been almost two dozen people during the term of the Biden administration who were known to have been on the terrorist watch list who had been apprehended coming across the United States border,” he said.
“Biden is making our country less secure.”
He was referring to data recently released by the Customs and Border Protection, which said that US Border Patrol and the Office of Field Operations “arrested 42 subjects who were on the terror watchlist and attempted to enter the United States illegally” since Biden took office in January 2021.
The governor added that the American Governors Border Strike Force is an indictment on the Biden administration and its failure to “do its fundamental job of national security and securing the border”.
On 19 April, 26 governors, including Mr Abbott, announced the creation of the American Governors’ Border Strike Force to dismantle what they claimed was transnational criminal organisations taking advantage of the open border with Mexico.
Mr Abbott said seven buses carrying undocumented migrants had left Texas for Washington DC since his drive started earlier this week.
The Texas governor is engaged in a duel with the Biden administration over his criticism of their handling of illegal migration.
Each busload is thought to carry around 40 migrants, according to local media reports. It was unclear if migrants were offered any kind of assistance upon arriving in DC; some appeared to arrive in family units, while others were alone.
Mr Abott said that through the drive, he is “bringing the border to Biden.”
“We will continue the bussing process every single day for the reason that I think you mentioned earlier on. And that is the Biden administration has been dumping off these migrants by the hundreds in local communities that do not have the ability to take care or deal with,” he said.
Mr Abott’s move to send buses of migrants was questioned by White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who has raised concerns over whether the governor of Texas would have the authority to dictate the movement of undocumented migrants around the country.
Republicans have demanded that the CDC reaffirm the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to turn asylum-seekers away at the border due to Covid concerns.
They have also resisted efforts by the Biden government to roll back cuts to legal migrations as well as policies deemed as inhumane.
Mr Abott has also promised to send buses of migrants to Delaware, president Biden’s home state, to capture his attention.
