The Biden administration recently confirmed that they would be ending Title 42 ejections from the southern border. At the same time, record sums of illegal migrants have tried to cross the United States border.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a press conference on April 18 that Texas would charter buses for these immigrants to go to Washington, D.C., where the Biden administration could more immediately help these people. However, he said that the migrants must voluntarily sign up for this program, according to a press conference with the governor.
"Texas is going to charter busses to take illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C. where the Biden administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people they are allowing to come across our border,” Abbott said.
The move is intended to “help local officials whose communities are overwhelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants being dropped off by the Biden administration,” Abbott said during the press conference.
Abbott believes that this will make Texas and America safer.
“With the Biden administration ending Title 42 expulsions in May, Texas will be taking its own unprecedented actions this month to do what no state in America has ever done in the history of this country to better secure our state, as well as our nation,” Abbott said. He cited estimates that once Title 42 expulsions expire, daily encounters will total 18,000, which is greater than three times the previous daily average.
An April 6 press release went into more detail.
"To board a bus or flight, a migrant must volunteer to be transported and show documentation from DHS," the press release said. "Mayors and county judges can notify TDEM of any DHS-facilitated drop-off of migrants in their communities so that the agency can provide appropriate transportation."
Abbott also said he supports more proactive vehicle inspections intended to stop human smuggling and trafficking, implementing what Abbott described as a “zero-tolerance policy for unsafe vehicles used for smuggling,” adding this would “dramatically slow traffic from Mexico into Texas.”