Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s migrant busing fundraiser has been criticized on social media after it was revealed that he raised less than 1 percent of the program’s cost.
Texas has faced the brunt of the massive surge of migrants coming in illegally through the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years. Abbott has used deterrence tactics, such as putting razor wire along the southern border, and has bused migrants who do come through the border to sanctuary cities.
Sanctuary cities have local officials that limit or deny its cooperation with federal immigration agents. The White House, meanwhile, has criticized Abbott’s immigration policies as inhumane political stunts.
After nearly two years of fundraising to offset the cost of Abbott’s busing program, which is largely paid for by taxpayers, CNN reported on Friday that Abbott raised around $550,000, at most, according to state records. This is only a drop in the bucket compared to the estimated $150 million it costs to run the program.
In January, Abbott announced that over 100,000 migrants had been bused to sanctuary cities including New York City, Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Los Angeles dating back to April 2022. Based on the payments made to private contractors so far, which CNN obtained through public records, it has cost roughly $1,500 to bus each migrant out of Texas.
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Social media users on X, formerly Twitter, slammed Abbott after CNN’s report was published.
X user @CMCRET wrote: “Another grift? Another irresponsible action by @GregAbbott_TX? As a Texan, I wouldn’t donate a ted cent to Abbot, no matter the cause. He lacks credibility. He lacks humanity. He lacks ethics and so does the entire Texas legislature.”
Reacting to the report, X user @piyushmittal wrote: “Greg Abbott had said he would raise money from concerned private citizens to bus migrants to sanctuary cities. Of the $150 million spent in the busing operation, he has raised only $550,000 or 1% of the required amount so far. #GOPClownShowContinues.”
Immigration lawyer Allen Orr Jr. posted, “The cost of hate and harm by @GregAbbott_TX.”
Newsweek reached out to Abbott’s office via email for comment.
After the report’s release, Abbott continued to boast about his migrant busing program.
In an X post on Friday, the Texas governor shared a press release from his office which showed updated numbers from the program. As of Friday, Texas has transported over 105,000 migrants to sanctuary cities.
This new number further increases the discrepancy between the cost of the program and the fundraised money to support it.
“We will continue to send migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities to provide relief to our overwhelmed border communities,” Abbott wrote in the X post.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.