Texas Governor Greg Abbott earlier announced a plan under which illegal migrants, increasingly flowing into the state due to President Joe Biden's reversal of Trump’s migrant restrictions, would be bused to Washington DC.
"By busing migrants to Washington DC, the Biden administration will be able to more immediately meet the needs of the people they are allowing to cross our border," Abbott said in an April 6 statement.
He specified that the program is voluntary and that illegal migrants would be sent to the steps of the US Capitol after they had been processed and released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
However, Washington DC's FEMA officials weren't happy about Abbott's plan, according to an email exchange obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by the Oversight Project, an investigative arm of think tank The Heritage Foundation.
The Epoch Times, which reviewed the exchange, notes that one of the officials described a plan to rely on Catholic charities of Arlington, Virginia, for support. The official also said that FEMA met with Washington officials, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), non-governmental organizations from the border towns, and border town officials to discuss how to respond to Abbott's migrant initiative.
"For this first drop, some were picked up by family members and the rest will be put on a train to Miami," the email confirmed.
There are signs that FEMA officials apparently walked the talk. The Epoch Times cites interviews given by illegal migrants bused from Texas to Washington DC to Newsmax and the Daily Beast. Some of them confirmed that they were not intended to stay in DC and that they would travel to Miami, Florida, with the help of Catholic charities.
For his part, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned illegals against coming to the Everglade State: "Florida is not a sanctuary state, and our social programs are designed to serve the citizens of our state. The governor will protect the sovereignty of the state of Florida," he told Fox News.
In April, DeSantis proposed busing migrants illegally entering Florida to the Vineyard, Delaware – Joe Biden's home state – and possibly other "progressive" states whose governors endorse new immigration laws.
"If Biden is dumping people… we now have money where we can reroute them to sanctuary states like Delaware," DeSantis said, as quoted by Boston Herald.
The row between the Biden administration and Republican governors erupted after the president loosened border restrictions and failed to curb the influx of illegal migrants through the country's southern border.
In particular, Texas’ governor and attorney general have both challenged Biden's migrant laws and orders. On March 5, 2021, Abbott kicked off Operation Lone Star, bringing together the Texas Department of Public Safety and the National Guard to prevent Mexican cartels and other smugglers from allegedly moving drugs and people into the state.
In July, the CBP noted that the number of immigrants found nationwide in June was 153,379, while in total there were 207,416 encounters along the southwest land border last month.
The flow of illicit narcotics including cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana across the southern border has also been on rise, according to the CBP.
The Republicans are accusing the Democrats of intentionally neglecting the border crisis and promising to legalize illegals to change the demographic composition of red states and beef up the Democratic electoral base. Immigration reform could become an electoral bonanza for the Dems given that Latino migrants-turned-citizens tend to vote for left-leaning politicians, Politico admitted in April 2013.