Texas is planning to bus migrants directly to Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation facilities.
A Texas source told the New York Post that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) is looking to reboot the busing program, which saw tens of thousands of migrants bused to Democrat-run sanctuary cities, overwhelming public services. While the program largely halted due to lawsuits from the cities and a decrease in crossings, the state is now looking to resume them under the more friendly incoming Trump administration — instead sending the migrants directly to ICE detention facilities for deportation.
“We spent a lot of taxpayer money to have the level of deterrent that we have on the border and we can’t just walk away,” the source said.
“That’s a way we could be involved in that, and of course they would reimburse us for paying for the [bus] contract,” they added.
Incoming Border Tsar Tom Homan told the outlet that he was interested in the proposal. Though the idea hadn’t been brought up during a recent visit to the border, he said, “I look forward to discussing that with them.”
“We’re going to help them finish this job and secure Texas and we’re going to work in partnership. And [Abbott] doesn’t have to worry about this administration suing him … to secure the Texas border,” Homan added.
Texas has been battling the Biden administration over immigration for the past four years, with the Republican-run state attempting a more aggressive border policy in contrast to the more lax approach of the federal government. This escalated in January when the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration regarding its cutting of razor wire at the border, which Texas disregarded.
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The state won a legal victory on Wednesday when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Biden administration was wrong to have cut razor wire at the border.
Beginning in the summer of 2022, Texas bused roughly 120,000 migrants to New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Chicago. It welcomed the election of President-elect Donald Trump, who is in line with the strict immigration policies favored by the border state.