Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded to reports that the Biden administration is considering a policy change to keep migrant families in Texas during the asylum process with a policy move of his own — sending more buses to Washington, D.C.
The potential policy change, reported by the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, may be an attempt by the administration to relieve the burden on major metropolitan areas caused by the influx of migrants.
However, while the administration ponders this change, Abbott is preparing to send more buses to Washington, D.C.
“This scam was attempted years ago and was rejected by a judge,” tweeted Abbott late Thursday night. “We will pursue the same swift justice with Biden. And we will send even more buses of migrants to Washington, D.C.”
Under the proposed change, federal officials would continue to track migrants with GPS monitoring devices and collaborate with local organizations to provide housing while they await their hearing. Other border states besides Texas are also being considered.
Currently, the Family Expedited Removal Management (FERM) imposes curfews and tracks migrant families via GPS as they travel to large cities. Changing FERM to keep migrant families where they crossed would make it easier to locate them in case of a failed asylum hearing and facilitate deportation.
If implemented, this policy change would echo the Reagan administration’s approach in the late 1980s, which involved applying for asylum at the point of entry and waiting there during the processing.
Texas has been seeking its own strategies to better manage and prevent the inflow of migrants across its border with Mexico.
Abbott stated this week that Texas has transported over 35,000 migrants to sanctuary cities since August 2022, including more than 13,300 to New York City.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams acknowledged that his state, like others, is struggling to meet the needs of thousands of migrants.
“This issue will devastate New York City,” Adams said on Wednesday. “… We will all be affected by this. I said it last year when we had 15,000, and I am saying it now at 110,000. We are about to lose the city we knew.”
The Washington Post reported last week that U.S. Border Patrol arrested a record-breaking 91,000 migrants who illegally crossed as part of a family group in August. The previous record was nearly 84,500 set in May 2019.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture, and politics.
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