As the buses containing migrants from the southern border continue to roll on to the nation's capital, Washington Democrats are reportedly saying that they can’t accommodate such an influx and are calling on D.C.’s mayor to take action.
According to the Washington Examiner, more than 150 buses traveling from Texas and Arizona have brought almost 6,000 migrants to Washington, D.C., in three months.
Though the operation has cost both border states millions of dollars, including $6.8 million in Texas to date, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said it's achieving the desired results.
"Gov. Abbott launched Texas’ border bus mission back in April to bring President Biden’s border crisis to his backyard in Washington, D.C., and to help Texas border communities that are being overrun as the federal government dumps migrants in their towns," Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
"Now, D.C. is experiencing just a fraction of the humanitarian crisis overwhelming our border communities and our state every single day," Eze said. "With our nation's capital finally feeling the pressure of President Biden's reckless open border policies, it's time he does his job and secures the border."
Beginning in mid-April, more than 125 buses have transported 4,800 migrants from Texas border communities to Washington, D.C., nearly 2,000 miles away, according to the Examiner.
Following Abbott's lead, Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey made a similar move in mid-May, sending 27 buses and more than 1,000 migrants from the border to D.C., Ducey spokeswoman Morgan Carr told the Examiner.
Running the bus operation as a natural disaster evacuation, the Texas Department of Emergency Management asks passengers to sign a waiver agreeing to take them to Washington at no cost, with nonperishable meals provided.
Echoing what border state governors and mayors have been saying for over a year, Washington politicians are apparently saying they can't handle the volume of people being released into their communities.
Ten of the 13 members of the District of Columbia’s city council, largely made up of Democrats, sent city Mayor Muriel Bowser a letter Thursday calling on her to use district resources and request assistance from the federal government to handle the approximately 100 people arriving per day, the Examiner reports.
Volunteer groups have been stepping in to help, but many migrants are in need of temporary and permanent housing, food, clothing and money, which volunteers are unable to sustain.
"After three months with no direct support from the District government, they [volunteers] are burned out and overwhelmed," the D.C. council members wrote. "With the number of buses arriving every day increasing rapidly, we encourage you to mobilize your administration to coordinate with other jurisdictions in the region to step in and assist with the response."
During an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Bowser, a Democrat, recognized that the migrant transports are creating "a very significant issue" for D.C. and called for a "coordinated federal response."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.