Texas taxpayers are footing the bill for Governor Greg Abbott’s plan to transport illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C. by bus.
According to Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) data, $2.9 million in taxpayer cash have only delivered 1,778 aliens to the nation’s capital as of June 7 – and the number is sure to climb since more buses have already been dispatched and Abbott shows no signs of slowing down the charade.
Security accounts for more than $1 million of the total cost, with taxpayers also bearing the expense for drivers and GPS tracking, among other things.
To help defray the costs of the project, Abbott set up a Border Transportation Funding Donations crowdsourcing page for bus migrants. As of May 27, 2022, the fund had only raised $112,842 towards the cause.
According to Abbott’s administration, more than 70 buses transporting 2,100 passengers have already left the Texas border, implying that the taxpayer bill will continue to rise in future reports.
According to an open records request from NBC 5 Investigates, each migrant bus trip to D.C. costs $1,400. Some buses have fewer passengers than others; one bus had only nine persons on board, while another had 53.
Abbott informed reporters during a visit to Eagle Pass, Texas in late May that he could deploy up to 450 buses from his state to Washington, D.C. The first bus, carrying only 24 migrants, arrived in mid-April.
According to the governor, the purpose of bringing people northeast is to bring the border situation to the attention of officials in Washington, rather than continue to harass Texas communities with influxes of illegal immigrants.
As the summer months approach, migration along the southern border continues to rise. In May, 239,416 people crossed the border, which marks a new two-decade record and the highest in President Joe Biden’s presidency.
Jason D. Owens, the del Rio Sector’s Chief Patrol Agent, posted photographs of hundreds of migrants apprehended by border patrol and awaiting asylum claims processing on Saturday.
‘As previously stated, the Del Rio Sector accounts for approximately half of all big groups caught by the US Border Patrol,’ Owens tweeted, accompanied with three photos.
‘We used to see groups of 100,’ he continued, ‘but now we’re seeing groups of 200, 300, and even 400!’
The TDEM documents provide statistics from bus journeys from April 11 to June 7, revealing that 61 bus excursions transported 1,778 persons from Texas to D.C. for $2.9 million, equating to $1,600 per passenger.
For July, first-class one-way tickets from San Antonio to Washington, D.C. are around $600, with commercial bus and rail tickets significantly cheaper.
Abbott introduced the plan in early April, saying that the ‘unprecedented’ governmental reaction to the migration crisis will be to bring the subject to the steps of the United States Capitol.
‘To assist local leaders whose areas are being overrun by hordes of illegal immigrants being dropped off by the Biden administration, Texas is providing charter buses to transport these illegal immigrants… to Washington, D.C.,’ Abbott said at the time.
‘We’re sending them to the White House, where the Biden administration will be able to respond more quickly to the needs of the people they’re permitting to enter our border.’