Buses from Texas drop off more than 100 migrants in a bitterly cold Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve

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Greater than 100 migrants bused from Texas arrived at Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve — enduring freezing temperatures within the state’s newest occasion of sending migrants to cities led by Democrats.

The Washington Put up reported Sunday that volunteers who greeted the migrants obtained phrase that Gov. Greg Abbott had despatched about 110 to 130 males, ladies and youngsters on three buses that arrived on the Naval Observatory on Saturday evening. Movies shared on social media present lots of them clutching blankets over their shoulders within the 18-degree climate after the two-day journey.

Abbott, a Republican, started sending migrants who arrived on the Texas-Mexico border to different cities in April as a strategy to antagonize the Biden administration. When the primary bus despatched to Harris’ residence arrived in September, Abbott went on NBC’s “Meet the Press” saying, “She’s the border czar, and we felt that if she received’t come right down to see the border, if President [Joe] Biden is not going to come down and see the border, we’ll be sure that they see it firsthand.”

The cities additionally embody Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, and their Democratic leaders have largely seen this system as a political stunt that makes use of individuals as pawns. By the top of August, the state had already paid practically $13 million sending busloads of migrants out of Texas.

The governor’s workplace has not confirmed he despatched the most recent buses and didn’t reply to a request for remark Sunday afternoon. However in a press release final month, Abbott stated the “busing technique has efficiently offered much-needed reduction to our border communities.”

In a press release to The Washington Put up, the White Home condemned the motion and stated Abbott didn’t coordinate with federal or native authorities earlier than the migrants had been dropped off within the chilly.

Help teams and officers in El Paso and different Texas cities have struggled to maintain up with the variety of incoming migrants amid uncertainty over whether or not Title 42 will proceed. The U.S. Supreme Court docket dominated final week that the pandemic-era well being coverage, which permits the federal authorities to quickly take away migrants, together with these in search of asylum, can proceed because the authorized battle over ending this system continues to be underway.

In a letter to Biden on Tuesday, Abbott stated the state is ill-equipped to accommodate 1000’s of migrants who’re coming into the nation. Abbott additionally acknowledged the chilly temperatures in Texas.

“Your insurance policies will go away many individuals within the bitter, harmful chilly because the polar vortex strikes into Texas,” Abbott wrote. The letter doesn’t point out plans to ship extra buses of migrants to Harris’ dwelling.

El Paso declared a state of emergency final week in response to freezing temperatures and shelters being unable to accommodate the entire migrants. On Friday evening, the Metropolis Council prolonged that declaration for 30 days.