Texas governor continues sending migrants to US capital

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott has continued to send buses filled with migrants who illegally crossed the US-Mexico border to the nation's capital, sparking condemnation from local officials.

Anadolu Agency photographed dozens of migrants being offloaded in Washington, D.C. on Friday morning, with some seen celebrating their arrival just feet (meters) away from the US Capitol.

Abbott has been accused of using migrants as a political weapon ahead of November's midterm elections, busing thousands to Democratic-held jurisidictions, including the nation's capital and New York City, since April without a plan for their settlement ahead of court proceedings.

Many have taken to sleeping on the streets, including in city parks and parking lots near Union Station, Washington, D.C., a central transportation hub. For many migrants, D.C. is a midway point on their way to their final destination.

Critics have said Abbott is using migrants to further antagonize US President Joe Biden and Democrats more generally in a cynical ploy to win votes.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has repeatedly called the situation a "humanitarian crisis" for which the city is ill-prepared.

She has twice appealed to the Pentagon to authorize a National Guard deployment to help the city deal with the mass influx, and has been turned down both times. The Defense Department says its troops are ill-suited to perform the tasks necessary to help the migrants.

"We know that these unannounced buses are a politically motivated stunt, one that could very quickly lead to a crisis within our own systems. We struggle with a broken immigration system in our country, and we know that cities alone cannot fix it," she wrote on Twitter on Aug. 22.

"We remain focused on working with District agencies and local providers to ensure our local systems can continue to function and that we can continue to meet the very real and significant needs of DC residents. And, of course, we will continue fighting for DC statehood so that, in the future, when the Mayor of DC says that we need the support of the DC National Guard, she has the ability to deploy the Guard," she added.