Texas sent a plane with more than 120 people who crossed the US-Mexico border to Chicago in an escalation of Greg Abbott’s bussing operation, which has sent more than 80,000 people to Democratic-led cities across the country since last year.
The first flight, which the Republican governor’s office said left from El Paso and arrived Tuesday, was arranged a week after Chicago’s city council took new action over the busloads of migrants that have drawn sharp criticism from Brandon Johnson, the city’s mayor. The city has said bus operators began trying to drop off people in neighboring cities to avoid penalties that include fines, towing or impoundment.
Bus operators could now face tougher penalties in Chicago for not unloading new arrivals at a designated location or failing to fill out city paperwork. Abbott’s spokesman, Andrew Mahaleris, said on Wednesday that the flights were the result of Johnson “targeting migrant buses” from Texas.
The flight took off a day after Abbott signed a new law that would allow police in Texas to arrest people who illegally cross the border, in a direct challenge to the authority of the federal government to oversee immigration.
“Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue taking historic action to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis,” Mahaleris said.
The White House criticized the flight and accused Abbott of using people who have crossed the US border for politics.
“Yet again, Governor Abbott is showing how little regard or respect he has for human beings,” said Angelo Fernández Hernández, the White House spokesperson, in a statement. “This latest political stunt just adds to his tally of extreme policies which seek to demonize and dehumanize people.”
More than 23,000 people have been sent to Chicago on buses as part of Abbott’s border mission, known as Operation Lone Star, according to the governor’s office.
The multibillion-dollar operation has also included stringing razor wire along the frontier, installing buoy barriers in the Rio Grande and deploying more officers. On Tuesday a federal appeals court ordered the Biden administration to temporarily halt cutting the concertina wire on the border while a legal challenge plays out.
Concerns have arisen about the living conditions and medical care provided for asylum seekers arriving in Chicago, spotlighted by the death last weekend of a five-year-old boy living at a temporary shelter for migrants.
The border has become an even hotter political flashpoint than usual as Republican senators continue to use it to hold up a funding deal for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. Amid grueling negotiations between senators and the White House, the contours of a bipartisan border security and immigration deal are beginning to take shape.
Among the main areas of discussion: toughening asylum protocols for people arriving at the US-Mexico border; bolstering border enforcement with more personnel and hi-tech systems; and deterring people from making the journey in the first place.
Although Congress has left town for the holidays and is not due back until 8 January, the leaders of the Democrats and Republicans in the Senate – Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell – released a rare joint statement saying negotiations are progressing.
