The head of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was arrested on Thursday for busing migrants from the southern border to Washington, D.C. without consulting with federal officials.
Governor Abbott is taking actions to move migrants without coordinating with the federal government and local border communities, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a statement.
Migrants from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua who had crossed the southern border from Mexico arrived in the nation's capital Wednesday as part of Governor Abbott's response to the Biden Administration's decision to end Title 42 expulsions, the governor's office said in a statement this week.
Abbott's office said that the Biden administration would end the Trump-era public health rule that the US has used since the outbreak to prevent immigrants from entering the U.S. border to claim asylum, citing the spread of Covid.
Since spring 2020, the policy, which was set to be lifted on May 23, has prevented more than 1.7 million attempts by immigrants to cross the border, and DHS officials have warned of a potential surge of migrants after the policy is no longer enforced.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki mocked Abbott's move Wednesday as a publicity stunt, while Magnus suggested Thursday it posted a potential safety issue.
He said that we all have a shared interest in ensuring safe, orderly, and humane immigration processes, and that assistance from the state should be carefully coordinated with us.
Abbott, a Republican running for re-election who has been highly critical of President Joe Biden's border policies, said last week that he had directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to charter buses to D.C. because Texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden Administration's failure to secure our border. The governor said on Thursday he plans to send migrants to Washington.
After Magnus issued his statement, Abbott told reporters that they would transport as many as possible.