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‘He’s not stopping’: Gov. Abbott’s bussing of migrants has ‘divided Democrats’

December 17, 2023 | | Print Article

We are used to Democrats voting in lockstep and parroting the party lines at every opportunity. Still, cracks in the liberals’ united front are forming and it’s due in no small part to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s relentless bussing of illegal migrants to so-called “sanctuary cities” such as New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and Washington D.C.

Even the mainstream media can’t ignore what NBC News is calling “a shift in the immigration debate” among Democrats, some of whom are “are calling out the president of their own party to do more to contain what they call a crisis.”

“Texas Gov. Greg Abbott knows he’s wreaking havoc by sending busloads of migrants from his border towns to sanctuary cities,” Natasha Korecki writes for NBC News. “The signs are evident.”

“New York says it’s at a breaking point. Chicago is running out of time and space before a harsh winter sets in. Washington, D.C. says its housing is at capacity. Other cities, like Denver, have declared states of emergency,” she explains. “But if Abbott has made one thing clear, it’s this: He’s not stopping.”

According to Abbott’s office, the governor has put some 75,500 migrants on buses in Texas and sent them to six Democrat-run cities.

Abbott has repeatedly blamed President Joe Biden’s lax border policies for the see of migrants who are overwhelming his state’s small border towns. His bussing of the migrants, he has said, was an act of desperation.

“Along the way, however, a different phenomenon has taken over — Democrats are raising the alarm on immigration, with the leaders of sanctuary cities and blue states thousands of miles from the southern border now warning their situation is dire,” Korecki writes. “Democrats are calling on the White House for more funding and to seize control over the interior operations to ensure migrants are sent to areas that have the capacity to take them in.”

“It has all added up to a shift in the immigration debate, where Democrats are calling out the president of their own party to do more to contain what they call a crisis,” she continues. “And this winter could make it worse.”

As BizPac Review has reported, Arizona’s Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs signed on Friday an executive order that slams the Biden administration and deploys the National Guard to Arizona’s southern border with Mexico.

“Yet again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe,” Hobbs said in a statement.

And, as negotiations over the national supplemental package continue, several progressive Democrats have warned Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) against giving in to Republican demands for border security concessions.

“If [Schumer] thinks he can send us home for the weekend, quietly cave to Republicans’ anti-immigrant demands while nobody is watching, and then ambush Democrats expecting us to vote yes with a smile, he is TERRIBLY MISTAKEN,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) fumed on Thursday.

“[Schumer] and those Democrats who are contemplating these proposals need to understand that these Trumpian policies will do nothing to address our challenges at the border and will only exacerbate the problem,” he stated. “Immigration advocates should speak up — HELL NO is the message.”

As Democrats turn on each other, Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Abbott, told NBC News that the bussing wouldn’t stop just because winter is descending on cities such as Chicago or New York.

“Until President Biden does his job and secures the border,” Eze said, “Texas will continue [bussing] migrants to sanctuary cities to provide much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border towns.”

The issue, according to Korecki, could have a serious impact on Democrats in the upcoming elections.

“Not only are Democrats warring with each other, there are signs that the party is losing the public’s faith in whether it can handle the issue better than Republicans,” Korecki writes. “A September NBC poll showed that 50% of the registered voters surveyed said that the Republican Party was better at dealing with border security, compared to 20% of voters who chose Democrats. And 18% more registered voters in that survey chose Republicans over Democrats when asked who they thought was better at dealing with immigration overall.”

Former communications official John Wittman used to serve in the Abbott administration, says the governor’s strategy is having an “impact” on the immigration debate.

“There is no doubt that the busing strategy is having an impact,” he told NBC News. “All of a sudden, there does seem to be some actual bipartisan support for securing the border, which, before this [bussing] strategy the governor implemented, I don’t think anyone saw coming.”

“Who would have thought,” he asked, “[New York City Mayor] Eric Adams would be calling on the Biden administration to do something about the border?”

Melissa Fine
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