(NewsNation) — Some of the migrants packed onto buses by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and sent on a long journey to New York City are now being bused again, this time to states such as Florida, where NYC officials say they actually want to be.
According to a report by Fox 5 NYC, the New York City Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs said he would be “helping” migrants who arrived in New York get to Florida and similar states where there is a higher population of migrants from countries including Venezuela.
“We’re helping them get to their actual final destination,” Castro told Fox 5. “We’re doing our best.”
Migrants arriving at the southern U.S. border, many of whom are fleeing violence and economic hardship in Central and South American countries, have been loaded onto buses by Abbott and sent to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York in an act of political gamesmanship by the Texas governor.
“Biden’s inaction at our border puts Texans at risk and is overwhelming our communities,” Abbott said. “We’ll continue busing migrants to sanctuary cities like NYC, D.C., and now Chicago until the federal government does its job and secures the border.”
Abbott’s move to send migrants to sanctuary cities, notably those with Democratic mayors in charge, drew the ire of city leaders who accuse Abbott of using the migrants as political pawns, rather than treating them like human beings.
“There could be a level of coordination and cooperation but he chooses to do none of those things and instead tries to send human beings — not cargo, but human beings — across the country to an uncertain destination,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
“It’s unimaginable what the governor of Texas has done. Our goal is to immediately find out each family’s need,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said when a busload of migrants arrived in his city from Texas.
Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who invoked a disaster proclamation to aid migrants, also lobbed shots at Abbott’s strategy.
“Let me be clear: While other states may be treating these vulnerable families as pawns, here in Illinois, we are treating them as people,” Pritzker said.
Abbott, however, believes he is making a statement to Democrats and the federal government about their apparent unwillingness to find a solution to mitigate the crisis presented by hundreds of thousands of migrants who have shown up at the border this year.
“I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief,” Abbott said of Adams.