Chris Lange, FISM News
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Biden administration officials will reportedly meet this morning to discuss “litigation options” against Republican governors sending migrants from the border into Democratic cities.
The meeting was reportedly scheduled last week, just days before Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a busload of migrants to Vice President Harris’s residence in Washington, D.C., and Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis chartered two planes to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
The meeting is expected to include top officials from the DHS and State, Justice, and Defense Departments, Axios reported.
Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey have been bussing thousands of migrants from their border states into D.C., New York, and Chicago for months. The cities are each led by Democratic mayors who previously said they would welcome unauthorized migrants, but have since decried the relocation efforts by southern governors.
The effort has infuriated Democrats and migrant activists who say the governors’ actions amount to inhumane publicity stunts.
“We continue to urge states to coordinate closely with nonprofit organizations and local governments on efforts to facilitate voluntary migrant transportation. Failure to coordinate is irresponsible and creates unsafe conditions for vulnerable migrants as well as the receiving jurisdictions,” a DHS spokesperson told Axios.
According to a Reuters report, some migrants who arrived in Martha’s Vinyard said they were misled about where they were going and the care they would receive upon arrival.
One Venezuelan migrant who arrived at Martha’s Vineyard identified himself as Luis, 27, and said he and nine relatives were promised a flight to Massachusetts, along with shelter, support for 90 days, help with work permits and English lessons. He said they were surprised when their flight landed on an island.
The governors, however, say they are fed up with Biden’s refusal to address the border crisis which has overwhelmed communities and resources in their respective states. Border agents are now averaging an unprecedented 8,500 migrant encounters per day, according to government data cited by the news service.
Governor DeSantis said in a press conference that the real problem is Biden not securing the border.
In Florida, we take what is happening at the southern border seriously.
We are not a sanctuary state, and we will gladly facilitate the transport of illegal immigrants to sanctuary jurisdictions. pic.twitter.com/YeEbMzy8yG
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 15, 2022
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday called the governors’ actions an “illegal stunt.” Abbott’s office swiftly responded by calling the administration out over its double-standard concerning the border crisis, slamming Biden as the “Hypocrite-in-Chief.”
“The White House is full of a bunch of hypocrites, led by the Hypocrite-in-Chief who has been flying planeloads of migrants across the country and oftentimes in the cover of night,” Abbott’s Press Secretary Renae Eze told Fox News Digital.
A Biden official expressed the administration’s frustration and anger over the governors’ actions.
“This should not be about political stunts. It should be about how the whole of government gets the 8,500 encounters a day down,” the official told Axios.