AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott had no intention of busing immigrants to New York City. Then Eric Adams opened his mouth.
That's how the three-term Republican explained his decision in 2022 to send 119,000 migrants from the Texas border to sanctuary cities across the country. That includes more than 45,000 people in New York alone.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Abbott initially claimed that the Biden-Harris administration was failing to crack down on the surge in illegal immigration, and that he was sending busloads of migrants to Washington, D.C., just to ease the pressure. Explained. In a border town that is being overwhelmed.
Then, “out of nowhere,” Mayor Abbott said, “Mayor Adams started criticizing me for busing him to New York, which I hadn't. But he kept criticizing me. .”
“I thought, 'You know what? New York is a sanctuary city, and if I get criticized, I'm going to take credit for it. ”So we started busing them to New York. ”
Abbott's first bus arrived at Port Authority Bus Terminal a few weeks later in early August.
Abbott then began sending buses to major sanctuary cities across the country, from Los Angeles to Chicago to Denver, as well as New York.
“America's problem”
The result is a program that could change the course of politics, helping to transform the influx of millions of immigrants from a borderland issue into a national issue that affects much of the United States, and Border policy was made one of the key issues. The biggest issue in the 2024 election.
Migrants from the border are already arriving in New York City by the summer of 2022, but Abbott said Texas is not involved in sending them away.
In July, Adams claimed that immigrants coming to New York were “arriving in buses sent by the Texas and Arizona governments,” a claim vehemently denied by Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey at the time. did.
City Hall officials said they believe many immigrants are coming to New York by being bused to Washington as part of Mr. Abbott's program.
Indeed, most of the immigrants who arrived in New York and other cities came on their own. Abbott's buses were responsible for about 20% of the 210,000 migrants who have passed through the city's shelter system since 2022.
The operation was condemned by many local and federal leaders as racists who used people as political pawns, including one who accused Mr Abbott of “busting people”. That included Mayor Adams, who called it “anti-American.”
City Hall doubled down on its position Sunday, arguing that Mr. Adams has done more to help immigrants than Mr. Abbott's previous “plans” and calling the governor's plan “both taxpayer-friendly and immigrant-friendly.” “It was an inappropriate policy that did not produce any meaningful results.” ”
“For more than two years, Governor Abbott has used human beings as political pawns, sending thousands of immigrants into New York City without any communication or coordination,” a City Hall spokesperson told the Post. spoke.
“Thanks to our 30- and 60-day policies and enhanced casework, approximately 70% of migrants in our care have already taken the next step in their journey,” the spokesperson said. Ta.
“One thing is certain: New York City is in a much better place than it was a year ago, thanks to the smart choices we made,” City Hall added.
But Abbott argues that the program not only helped immigrants in the long run, but also forced the nation to finally confront the crisis.
“Because of that process, people across the country began to understand that this is not a Texas problem. This is an American problem. And because of that process, they started to understand that this is not a Texas problem. I became more focused,” Abbott said.
“This is not a Texas problem. This is an American problem created by the Biden administration.”
Mr Harris “ignored” the invitation
Abbott said he has repeatedly tried to soften the impact of Biden-Harris border policies on the state.
He ordered the construction of fortifications such as razor wire and serrated buoys along the Texas border, particularly in dangerous stretches of the Rio Grande, and directed the Texas National Guard and Department of Public Safety to help intercept and detain illegal border crossers. commanded.
The Biden administration has repeatedly opposed Mr. Abbott's moves with legal injunctions.
But Mr. Abbott's strategy appears to be working. Border crossings in Texas have slowed to a fraction of their peak in December 2023.
New York City bus service began in August 2022. About 117,000 immigrants crossed the border in Texas this month. Two years later, in August of this year, there were about 28,000 people crossing.
But Abbott said Texans can't afford another four years of open borders, something he believes Vice President Kamala Harris would tolerate.
“What will come out of the pockets of Texas taxpayers will be far more than the $10 billion in private money paid for border security to address the Biden-Harris administration's denial of border security,” he said. .
Not only did Abbott “ignore” the border crisis that Harris was tasked with resolving as “border czar,” he completely ignored numerous invitations from Texas to come see the situation at the border firsthand. He said he ignored it.
“She has never responded,” Abbott said, adding, “Texas could be destroyed if Kamala Harris becomes president.”
In June 2021, a year before Abbott's first bus departed for Washington, D.C., Harris made her first visit to the southern border as vice president, which included a stop in El Paso. . And on Friday, she traveled to the border again, but remained in Arizona.
Torren de Aragua: “A very dangerous gang”
Another problem for which President Biden and his so-called “border czar” Kamala Harris are responsible, and which Mr. Abbott said he is being forced to clean up, is the violent Venezuelan gang, Torren de Aragua appeared on the streets of America.
The gang has established footholds across the country after countless members crossed the border, and 100 suspected members were arrested during one raid at the El Paso border in March.
But then again, what happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas.
Torren de Aragua currently directs large-scale criminal operations in New York City, Colorado, and Chicago, as well as forced prostitution in eight states across the country, including California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Nevada, and Texas. It has even been pointed out that it may be involved in the increase in , Georgia.
“This is all due to Biden and Harris opening up to people from Venezuela, including gang members. Even the Biden administration has no data to consider whether people from Venezuela are gang members. '' said Abbott.
Venezuela is just one of several Latin American countries through which around 30,000 migrants were flown in each month as part of a humanitarian aid program, which was suspended in July over suspicions of fraud and then resumed.
“This is a very dangerous gang,” said Abbott, who declared the gang a foreign terrorist organization in the state and offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Torren de Aragua members. I'm trying to suppress it by doing this.
“A lot of Americans and Texans didn't know exactly what was going on, so what I did was increase understanding and awareness of the fact that this dangerous gang is in America.” he said.
“Adams wanted someone to criticize him.”
Mr. Abbott's original plan to transport migrants by bus was a last resort. To ensure the Biden-Harris administration and lawmakers cannot ignore the crisis at the Texas border, the state has begun dispatching buses carrying new arrivals to the nation's capital starting in spring 2022.
“If they refused to come to the border and see the disaster they had caused, I was going to take the border to them. Initially, we only traveled by bus to the sanctuary city of Washington, D.C. That way local leaders could see firsthand the chaos they caused,” Abbott said.
The influx of immigrants into New York City that Adams talked about in July 2022 is, ironically, likely due to a Biden-Harris administration program.
“Adams wanted someone to criticize, and he knew it was probably the Biden administration, but he wanted to use me as a punching bag,” Abbott said.
“And you thought you know what? If he thinks we're sending them there. We'll live up to his expectations and bus them there. ”
Despite being a Democrat, Adams has a notoriously frosty relationship with President Biden over his lack of support for New York's immigration crisis.
When he was indicted on federal corruption charges last week, Adams claimed he was targeted by federal prosecutors because he was outspoken on the issue.
(The indictment alleges a quid pro quo between Mr. Adams and Turkish officials, dating back to 2014, years before the immigration crisis).
“I can't spend another four years on it.”
Abbott, who has vowed to support the deportation program proposed by former President Donald Trump, believes November's presidential election will be a watershed moment not just for Texas but for the entire country.
“More than 11 million people crossed the border under the Biden-Harris administration. We cannot have another four years of this,” he said.
“America cannot continue to be the country it is today with four more years of Kamala Harris.”
Instead, Mr. Abbott said he hoped President Trump would take office again and would work “in partnership” with the administration on border security.
“This is a line in the sand, and Americans must recognize that our country and our future are at stake.”
