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New York City Mayor Eric Adams called for help from the federal government as buses carrying migrants sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott arrived in the city.
In a tweet on Sunday, Mr Adams said the Texas governor had “used innocent people as political pawns to create a crisis”.
“New Yorkers are taking steps to fix this — these are the values of our city,” he said. “But we need the help of the federal government – money, technical assistance and more.”
In April, Mr Abbott launched Operation Lone Star by sending busloads of undocumented migrants arriving in Texas at the southern border to Washington DC.
The governor said his efforts, widely criticized by critics as a “political stunt,” would help relieve border communities that are “overwhelmed by high numbers of illegal crossings, while bringing the border crisis to President Biden’s doorstep.”
“Now, Washington must realize, in a very minimal way, exactly what Texas must face as a result of the open border policies the Biden administration has allowed,” Mr. Abbott said in a press statement issued shortly after. after Easter, praising the program for its success in providing “relief” to Texans.
On Friday, Mr Abbott announced he had started sending buses to New York, after earlier denying claims by Mr Adams that migrants being sent from Texas had overwhelmed the city’s homeless shelters.
On Sunday, Mr Adams visited a bus station in New York to greet an arriving bus.
“That’s horrible, when you think about what the governor is doing,” he said at the terminal, according to reports Politico. “Some of the families are on the bus that wanted to go to other locations and were not allowed to do so. They were forced into the bus.”
“Our goal is to find out immediately the needs of each family and provide them with the help they want.”
By recent estimates, more than 200 buses have arrived in Washington since the operation began, carrying more than 4,000 immigrants — costing Lone Star State taxpayers about $1,400 per passenger, according to an investigation by NBC 5 in Dallas.
Earlier in July, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser also asked the Biden administration to enlist the help of the National Guard to welcome busloads of migrants.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rejected Ms Bowser’s request and said the move would “adversely affect the readiness” of the force.
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