Several busloads of migrants were dropped off again in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ vice presidential residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve, leading the White House to lash out at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for sending them.
In recent months, Abbott and other red state governors have been sending thousands of migrants north to “sanctuary” cities like Chicago, New York City, Martha’s Vineyard, and Washington, D.C., as a means of drawing attention to the chaos along the US-Mexico border that they have blamed on President Joe Biden’s lax immigration and enforcement policies. Also, Biden, early in his term, named her as “border czar,” but Republicans say she has done next to nothing to deal with a record number of illegal crossings as well as a dramatic uptick in the smuggling of deadly drugs like fentanyl that is killing tens of thousands of Americans a year.
The Daily Wire reported:
With the temperature dipping into the teens, buses with approximately 50 migrants were expected to arrive late Saturday in front of the U.S. Naval Observatory, a source told CNN. A reporter with 7News, a local ABC affiliate, caught what he said was the third and final bus of the night, noting it came from Texas.
Video posted to social media by the reporter, Christian Flores, showed what he said were migrants picking up their belongings and boarding another bus destined for a local church. They included women and children.
Amy Fischer, a volunteer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, said the organization was expecting the migrant busses after being notified by an NGO in the Lone Star State they were coming. She told CNN the busses were supposed to go to New York City but were diverted to D.C. because of inclement winter weather.
“The DC community has been welcoming buses from Texas anytime they’ve come since April. Christmas Eve and freezing cold weather is no different,” Fischer said. “We are always here welcoming folks with open arms.”
The White House lashed out at Abbott and falsely accused him of “abandoning children.”
“Governor Abbott abandoned children on the side of the road in below-freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve without coordinating with any Federal or local authorities,” White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan said in a statement, per CNN.
“As we have repeatedly said, we are willing to work with anyone – Republican or Democrat alike – on real solutions, like the comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures President Biden sent to Congress on his first day in office, but these political games accomplish nothing and only put lives in danger,” Hasan added.
Abbott has repeatedly said all migrants who are placed on busses and sent north have agreed to go.
Also, the Texas governor has repeatedly pressed the Biden administration to help find a solution after millions of migrants have crossed illegally into the U.S. since Biden, on his first day in office, reversed nearly all of former President Donald Trump’s strict border enforcement policies.
Last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) excoriated Biden over the ongoing migrant and drug-smuggling crises, and imported him to get his “ass” to the border and see for himself what is going on.
“His policies are not working at the border, and Title 42 is about to expire. President Biden could reinstate Title 42 deportation authority with a stroke of a pen,” he told Fox News.
“Every Democrat voted against extending Title 42 in the Senate; every Republican voted for it. When Title 42 goes away as a deportation tool, you are going to double the number of illegal immigrants coming into the country in about a week,” he added.
“We are going to have 100,000 illegals coming across the border a week, in about a week, and he has done nothing to fix the problem; he has never been to the border. It is so unconscionable for him not to go to the border and listen to the agents and people trying to control the border, what life is like along our southern border,” Graham said.
“The fact that he doesn’t go shows to me he’s disconnected and he doesn’t give a damn. If he really gave a damn about what’s going on at the border — yeah, he doesn’t have to drop f-bombs at the White House,” he said, referring to a book that claims Biden was cursing at the White House over illegal immigration in the early stages of his administration,” noted further before demanding: “Get your ass out of the White House and go to the border!”
