Two busloads of migrants dropped off near US vice president’s home
15 September 2022, 15:44
It was not immediately clear which Republican leader had sent them.
Two buses of migrants from the US-Mexico border have been dropped off near American vice president Kamala Harris’s Washington home in a bitter political battle over Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
It was not immediately clear which Republican leader had sent them.
Texas governor Greg Abbott has been bussing migrants out of Texas to cities with Democratic mayors because he claims there are too many arrivals over the border to his state.
Arizona governor Doug Ducey has also adopted this policy, while Florida governor Ron DeSantis has also got in on the act recently.
It was first dreamed up by former president Donald Trump.
BREAKING: Two buses of 101 migrants mostly from Venezuela arrive outside @VP Harris house in DC sent by @GregAbbott_TX – one migrant telling me he believes the border is “open” @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/Q70utdE4k0
— Griff Jenkins (@GriffJenkins) September 15, 2022
About two dozen men and women stood outside the US Naval Observatory at dawn, clutching clear plastic bags of their belongings brought with them over the border, before moving to a nearby church.
Ms Harris’s office had no immediate comment.
After migrants seeking asylum cross the US-Mexico border, they spend time in a US Customs and Border Protection facility along the border until they are generally released into the US to wait out their cases.
Republicans say Mr Biden’s policies encourage migrants to vanish into the US.
BREAKING REPORT: Two buses of migrants from Texas mostly from Venezuela ARRIVE OUTSIDE Vice President Kamala Harris' home in Washington DC…
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) September 15, 2022
Democrats argue the Mr Trump-era policy of forcing migrants to wait out their asylum cases in Mexico was inhumane.
Mr DeSantis flew two planes of immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday.
And, last week, Mr Abbott sent about 75 migrants to Chicago.
District of Columbia mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency last week over the continued arrival of buses of migrants.
The district earlier requested National Guard assistance to help stem a “growing humanitarian crisis” prompted by the arrival of thousands of migrants, but the Pentagon rejected the request.
