Asserting that he dispatched migrants to New York City to “assist them arrive to their intended goal,” El Paso’s mayor


El Paso’s Democratic mayor said Sunday that he is only busing migrants to New York City to help them get to their final destination as critics pointed out the hypocrisy in the left condemning Republicans for doing the same thing.

Mayor Oscar Leeser said migrants aren’t coming to the U.S. just to land in his border city, but instead are looking to go to other places in the country – potentially where they have family or other sponsors.

‘The people are not coming to El Paso,’ Leeser said. ‘They’re coming to America.’

He said that authorities in El Paso speak to migrants and ask them where they want to go before ‘we will take them and help them get to their destination.’

‘That’s been really important that we don’t send anyone where they don’t want to go,’ he added in an interview with ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning. ‘We make sure we help them.’

‘We put them on buses with food and make sure they get to their destination and make sure that we always continue to greet and treat people like human beings.’

Leeser’s explanation comes despite criticism from Democrats after GOP Governors in Texas, Florida and Arizona bussed and flew migrants to other cities after illegally crossing into the U.S.

El Paso's Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser (above) defended sending 28 busloads of migrants to New York City, claiming that his city is helping illegal border hoppers to get to their preferred destination

El Paso's Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser (above) defended sending 28 busloads of migrants to New York City, claiming that his city is helping illegal border hoppers to get to their preferred destination

El Paso’s Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser (above) defended sending 28 busloads of migrants to New York City, claiming that his city is helping illegal border hoppers to get to their preferred destination

'The people are not coming to El Paso. They're coming to America,' Lesser told ABC This Week on Sunday. 'We don't send anyone where they don't want to go... We put them on buses with food and make sure they get to their destination'. Pictured: Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, board a bus to New York City at the Migrant Welcome Center in El Paso, Texas on September 16

'The people are not coming to El Paso. They're coming to America,' Lesser told ABC This Week on Sunday. 'We don't send anyone where they don't want to go... We put them on buses with food and make sure they get to their destination'. Pictured: Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, board a bus to New York City at the Migrant Welcome Center in El Paso, Texas on September 16

‘The people are not coming to El Paso. They’re coming to America,’ Lesser told ABC This Week on Sunday. ‘We don’t send anyone where they don’t want to go… We put them on buses with food and make sure they get to their destination’. Pictured: Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, board a bus to New York City at the Migrant Welcome Center in El Paso, Texas on September 16

Republican Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona have bused migrants to Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago, Illinois. GOP Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida flew migrants from his state last week to the luxury Martha’s Vineyard island off the coast of Massachusetts.

After the latest stunt, Lesser insisted that he is not sending migrants to places they do not want to go – and instead is working to make sure they get to their desired destinations.

Lesser and his Democrat government in El Paso have been sending migrants to the sanctuary city for weeks – and asking the Biden administration to front the bill.

The Texas border city has dispatched at least 28 charter buses filled with migrants to the Big Apple since August 23, at a cost of more than $600,000, KFOX-TV reported this week.

City officials say that they expect the buses to be paid for by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as part of a quarterly reimbursement process covering emergency food and shelter for migrants.

The buses arranged by El Paso have escaped the intense criticism heaped on GOP Governors Abbott and DeSantis, whom the White House accused of treating migrants as ‘chattel’ and ‘political pawns.’

GOP officials say they’re keen to give liberal sanctuary cities an insight into the strain uncontrolled illegal immigration is bringing to border communities.

Conservatives were quick to point out the apparent double standard, with radio host Bruce Hooley tweeting: ‘Another example of, ‘When Democrats do it, it’s perfectly fine.”

Leeser's city has dispatched at least 28 charter buses filled with migrants to New York City since August 23

Leeser's city has dispatched at least 28 charter buses filled with migrants to New York City since August 23

Leeser’s city has dispatched at least 28 charter buses filled with migrants to New York City since August 23

A charter bus that took a group of migrants from El Paso to New York City in August is seen above. The city has been arranging voluntary transit for migrants through free bus rides

A charter bus that took a group of migrants from El Paso to New York City in August is seen above. The city has been arranging voluntary transit for migrants through free bus rides

A charter bus that took a group of migrants from El Paso to New York City in August is seen above. The city has been arranging voluntary transit for migrants through free bus rides

Reporter Bill Melugin of KTTV observed: ‘The Democrat-led city of El Paso, TX has been sending its own buses of migrants to NYC, and just approved up to a $2 million contract for 16 months to bus even more migrants out of town.’

‘They are also requesting federal reimbursement. El Paso, however, is not being criticized,’ he added.

Abbott has been sending buses to New York, Chicago, and DC, including to the vice president’s doorstep, and this week DeSantis dispatched a plane with 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, the wealthy Massachusetts island.

The White House has decried the Republican governors’ efforts, saying the migrants, mostly from Venezuela, were being used in a political stunt.

‘These were children. They were moms. They were fleeing communism. And what did Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott do to them? They used them as political pawns, treated them like chattel,’ White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing on Friday.

She said: ‘This is an issue that is inhumane it is abhorrent and we should not be using people, migrants, who are fleeing communism as a political pawn.’

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing on Friday that Abbott and DeSantis used migrants 'as political pawns, treated them like chattel'

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing on Friday that Abbott and DeSantis used migrants 'as political pawns, treated them like chattel'

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing on Friday that Abbott and DeSantis used migrants ‘as political pawns, treated them like chattel’

Three new buses arrived at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan early on Saturday (above). They are also thought to be from Texas, but Abbott didn't immediately comment

Three new buses arrived at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan early on Saturday (above). They are also thought to be from Texas, but Abbott didn't immediately comment

Three new buses arrived at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan early on Saturday (above). They are also thought to be from Texas, but Abbott didn’t immediately comment

Representatives for Abbott and DeSantis did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DailyMail.com on Saturday afternoon.

Since April, Abbott’s state government in Texas has transported more than 11,000 migrants by bus to Democrat-controlled states and cities, including 8,000 to DC and 2,500 to New York City.

At least 600 migrants from Texas have also been transported to Chicago since late August.

El Paso has been struggling to cope with an influx of migrants crossing the border illegally, mostly from Venezuela, that has overwhelmed local shelters and Border Patrol processing facilities.

Earlier this week, nearly 1,000 migrants had been dropped off to sleep on the streets of El Paso, without access to basic sanitation facilities.

To alleviate the surge, the El Paso City-County Office of Emergency Management has been arranging voluntary transit for migrants through free bus rides, mostly to New York City, at least since June, according to the Texas Tribune.

‘OEM has sponsored and provided transportation services for migrants out of El Paso, which is reimbursable through FEMA,’ Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino told the outlet.

‘OEM has sponsored charter buses to include a recent transport to New York City, this was the preferred destination for those without any means to travel,’ added D’Agostino.

A migrant bus from Texas arrives at the Port Authority terminal in New York on August 29

A migrant bus from Texas arrives at the Port Authority terminal in New York on August 29

A migrant bus from Texas arrives at the Port Authority terminal in New York on August 29

As well, the Biden has long been quietly chartering buses and plans to move migrants from the border to onward destinations, an apparent contradiction that Carine Hajjar noted in a Wall Street Journal opinion essay on Friday.

‘The White House calls Mr. Abbott’s busing ‘shameful,’ but the Biden administration appears to be doing the same thing,’ wrote Hajjar.

On the other side, critics of Abbott and DeSantis say that the Republican governors are misleading migrants, after reports emerged that many who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard were told they would be offered housing and jobs in Boston.

US Rep Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, accused DeSantis of orchestrating a political ploy with the lives of the migrants.

‘Playing politics with people’s lives is what governors like George Wallace did during segregation,’ Moulton said, referring to Wallace’s tactics of tricking black Southerners to move north. ‘Ron DeSantis is trying to earn George Wallace’s legacy.’

Speaking on Thursday, DeSantis accused critics of his move to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard of ‘virtue signaling’, saying their concern for the welfare of the migrants was a ‘fraud’.

He said: ‘The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they go berserk, and they’re so upset that this is happening.’


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