(NewsNation) — Texas has bused over 50,000 migrants coming into the state to different cities around the United States over the past year, Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a press release.
As part of a multiagency border effort called “Operation Lone Star,” Abbott started sending busloads of migrants to sanctuary cities in April 2022. Sanctuary cities have policies that discourage law enforcement from reporting an individual’s immigration status unless it involves an investigation of a serious crime, the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service says.
More than 12,500 migrants have been taken to Washington, D.C., from Texas since April 2022; 18,500 were bused to New York City since August 2022; 13,500 went to Chicago since August 2022; 3,200 went to Philadelphia since November 2022; and 3,200 have been sent to Denver since May 18. Far fewer have been sent to Los Angeles: 940 since June 14.
Since Operation Lone Star began, Texas officials have apprehended over 473,900 migrants and arrested more than 34,800 people, the governor’s office said. Over 431 million lethal doses of fentanyl have been seized by Texas law enforcement, according to the press release.
“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border,” the news release said.
White House officials and others have criticized the busing of migrants as an inhumane “political stunt” that exploited migrants, while cities Texas is sending migrants to say they don’t have the resources to handle the influx of people coming to their area.
Other places are sending migrants to cities along with Texas. Axios reported Chicago has become a top destination for migrants coming out of Denver.