Seventy-Nine Buses of Illegals Transported to Washington Under Abbott-Ducey Initiative

EXCLUSIVE — AUSTIN, Texas — The Republican-led states of Arizona and Texas have dispatched dozens of buses carrying migrants from border towns to Washington, D.C., state officials told the Washington Examiner.

More than 2,500 people who were released from Border Patrol custody after illegally crossing from Mexico have opted to take 79 free, state-provided buses to the nation’s capital under initiatives rolled out by governors of each state, spokespeople exclusively shared Tuesday.

“These people are wanting to go somewhere else. They’re not wanting to stay in Arizona,” said Morgan Carr, spokeswoman for Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ). “From what we’re seeing, they’re all primarily [headed to] the East Coast.”

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More than 2,000 people on 65 buses have arrived in Washington since Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) began the operation in mid-April.

In Arizona, 14 buses carrying 523 people have departed since it began in mid-May.

One-quarter of migrants in Arizona said they planned to go to New York after arriving in Washington, followed by 23% who said New Jersey was their final destination. Florida came in third.

In Arizona, 69% of migrants who boarded buses to Washington were from Colombia. Peruvians made up the second-highest percentage at 15%. Carr said eight Russian citizens were aboard a bus that departed Tuesday.

Ducey’s busing initiative helps alleviate the pressure from communities such as Yuma, Arizona, by picking up people immediately after they are released by the Border Patrol in town.

Yuma has seen migrants from all over the world cross the border over the past year, as Daily Caller reporter Jennie Taer documented in late May.

Because hundreds of migrants are released and permitted to travel anywhere in the country from Yuma each day, regional airports and bus lines are overwhelmed. The 90,000-person city is a three-hour drive from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Transporting migrants released from custody has been a challenge, according to Mayor Douglas Nicholls (R), but with limited flights, a local nonprofit group is looking at other ways of transporting migrants to out-of-state airports, including in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Abbott first announced April 6 that the state would use emergency evacuation procedures to transport migrants out of the state in an effort to “take the border to President Biden.” The white charter buses and security guards onboard were contracted through private companies. Although Abbott vowed to drop off migrants at the Capitol, the buses have dropped passengers closer to Union Station, the major transportation hub in the region.

Unlike the state of Texas’s busing initiative, which began in April, Arizona expects the Biden administration to pick up the tab.

“This is a problem caused by Washington. We’re bringing it to Washington, and we expect Washington to foot the bill. We’re going to send them a bill,” Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin told the Washington Examiner in May.

Ducey took action out of concern that the Biden administration’s attempts to stop expelling migrants who illegally cross the border would lead to more people crossing and being released into Arizona. Under a public health pandemic policy known as Title 42, border officials have been able to turn away the majority of people.

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Nonprofit organizations have been there to help people as they arrive, though Texas stopped issuing notices in advance of the buses arriving. Migrants typically board trains and long-distance buses at Union Station to continue on to destinations where they have family or friends. The state’s buses are free of charge to migrants, only costing taxpayers.