Migrants bused from Texas arrive outside residence of US vice president

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - Two buses with more than 100 migrants from the state of Texas were dropped off in front of the house of US Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, according to videos and multiple reports Thursday.

Fox News reported that the migrants were sent by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott. Among them were those from Venezuela, Uruguay, Colombia, and Mexico.

Footage showed men, women, and children carrying backpacks in front of Harris' residence at the Naval Observatory.

Abbott put the federal government on notice about the border crisis and US immigration policies when he decided to bus migrants to different cities saying it was because of "President (Joe) Biden’s continued refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies."

As of early September, Abbott had sent almost 250 busloads with nearly 11,000 migrants from Texas to New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. to the dismay of those cities' respective mayors, who are Democrats.

Last week, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public health emergency and announced the city would spend $10 million to create an office to help coordinate the arrival of the migrants.

In addition, because of Abbott's busing plan, Democrats in the House of Representatives last Friday urged Congress to provide $50 million in federal funding to house and feed migrants being bused from Texas and Arizona.

"Governor Abbott is drawing attention to a national issue and not allowing the Biden administration to sweep the immigration problem under the rug," Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston, told Anadolu Agency earlier this week.

Jones said that Abbott is putting pressure on Democrats to reevaluate the problems of US immigration policies while stoking a hot-button issue that appeals to his voter base.