Texas to send 'willing' migrants to US capital

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday said that the state will send to the nation's capital by bus and plane willing migrants who have been processed and released from federal custody.

Abbott had said earlier Wednesday at a news conference that Texas would dispatch state troopers in riot gear to the southern border to round up migrants and bus them straight to Washington.  But an executive order from the governor afterward had a much softer tone and said the transportation will be voluntary by bus or airplane.

A news release from the governor's office explained that "to board a bus or flight, a migrant must volunteer to be transported and show documentation from DHS (Department of Homeland Security)".

Abbott said he was doing so in response to the Biden administration's decision to lift Title 42 — a 1944 public health policy to prevent the spread of communicable disease. It was reimplemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and allows authorities to turn away migrants. Former president Donald Trump implemented the order at the onset of the pandemic. 

"You can always count on Abbott to choose stunts over solutions," Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate against Abbott for the November governor's race, commented in a tweet and statement. "If Abbott focused on solutions instead of stunts, then Texas could have made some real progress on the issue over the last seven years." 

Abbott said that DHS is projecting as many as 18,000 migrant crossing apprehensions per day at the end of Title 42 expulsions, which will happen on May 23. That would mean more than a half-million border crossings per month. 

A growing number of Democratic lawmakers in Washington have joined Republicans and border officials in opposing the lifting of Title 42, concerned that it could lead to a surge at the border that authorities are not prepared to handle.

In its operations report for February, US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) encountered 116,678 people at the southwest border, a 2 percent increase over the prior month. Seventy-six percent were single adults, according to CBP. 

Abbott also directed the state's Public Safety Department to conduct enhanced safety inspections of vehicles as they cross international ports of entry into Texas to "help ensure that Texans are not endangered by unsafe vehicles and their unsafe drivers".

Abbott acknowledged that the move will dramatically slow traffic at the Texas border with Mexico, which is Texas' largest trading partner. The two nations had more than $172 billion in total trade in 2020, compared with the $45 billion volume the US has with its No. 2 trade partner, China.

Abbott also plans to create boat blockades on the Rio Grande and install barbed wire in low-river crossings to deter migrants.

The governor's moves are viewed by some as part of his re-election campaign strategy, while others support his decision.

"Give DC a taste of what a Texas has had to deal with recently. Maybe then DC will face the border problem head on," one supporter tweeted. 

Abbott has made border control an important agenda in his administration. He launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021. At first, only 1,000 National Guard troops were dispatched to the border. 

In October 2021, elbowed by his conservative rivals, Abbott increased the number and activated 10,000 National Guard members. 

Many of them had to report to duty on short notice, and some suffered financially as a result. Usually, long-term Guard deployments come from the federal government, with nearly a year's notice.

Other issues with Lone Star Operation include shortage of critical gear, cramped trailers and low morale among the guards. Some said they rarely saw migrants at their isolated posts. A survey found that 1 in 5 members complained of being paid late, too little or not at all for months.  

The operation has become much more costly than anticipated. Budgeted for $412 million a year, the cost has ballooned to more than $2 billion. 

The Texas Military Department recently told the state Senate that an additional $531 million is needed to sustain the operation beyond May 1 while the fiscal year ends in August.

Abbott has claimed the operation a big success but has faced questions over whether it is an efficient way of spending money or securing the border.

The Texas Tribune reported that public records show some deployments are very inefficient. For example, deployments of 30 National Guard members on US Route 77 led to 31 apprehensions in a little more than a month.

Some conservatives want Abbott to go further by declaring the border situation an "invasion", thus giving the state the authority to turn back migrants.

Tom Homan, the former acting director for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump, said he discussed the idea with Abbott three months ago. By his description, the governor's office was "noncommittal but willing to listen".

Ken Cuccinelli, former DHS official under Trump, also advocates for the idea. He told The Associated Press that Operation Lone Star has put little dent in migration.

"Until you are actually returning people to Mexico, what you are doing will have no effect," he said.