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Texas has dispatched buses to the southern border to retrieve illegal immigrants after Gov. Greg Abbott said this week that he planned to send those released in his state to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Within the last 24 hours, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) has dispatched an unspecified number of buses to small Texas communities that are said by officials to be overwhelmed by an influx of migrants placed there by the federal government.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent monitors single-adult male detainees at Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, U.S. July 12, 2019. (REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas/File Photo)
TEXAS GOV. GREG ABBOTT DIRECTS USE OF BUSES TO DROP OFF MIGRANTS AT STEPS OF CAPITOL IN DC
“In the last 24 hours, TDEM has dispatched buses to areas where communities have expressed concerns about the federal government dropping off migrants and has the capability to send as many as is necessary to fulfill the requests from mayors and county judges,” Seth Christensen, chief of media and communications for TDEM, told Fox News Digital.
Christensen also said the majority of areas in the state that expressed concern over the large numbers of illegal immigrants being placed in their communities now say the federal government has “stopped dropping migrants in their towns” since Abbott’s announcement.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday a series of orders to address the influx of migrants, including shipping many to Washington D.C., to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Lynda M. Gonzalez-Pool/Getty Images)
“From the [Rio Grande Valley] to Terrell County, a large majority of the communities that originally reached out for support through this operation have now said that the federal government has stopped dropping migrants in their towns since the governor’s announcement on Wednesday,” he said.
Christensen said each bus “has the capacity and supplies necessary to carry up to 40 migrants.”
On Wednesday, Abbott said at a news conference that the state would be sending the migrants “to the United States Capitol, where the Biden administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border.”
Migrants are seen at the Rio Grande near the Del Rio-Acuna Port of Entry in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 18, 2021. (Getty Images)
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W. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said at the time that his agency will “use as many buses as we need” to follow Abbott’s directive.
The plan comes weeks before Title 42 is slated to expire on May 23. The Trump-era health order has been used to expel migrants at the southern border since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this article.
Source: www.foxnews.com