The first busload of migrants from Texas to Denver has completed its journey, according to a press release from Gov. Greg Abbott Thursday.
The move comes partly in response to the expiration of pandemic-era Title 42 last week, but continues Abbott’s established practice of distributing the overflow of migrants in Texas to Democrat-run cities across the U.S.
This first busload held 41 migrants and is the first migrant trip to Denver that was coordinated by another state, rather than migrants taking commercial transportation. Denver was informed by Texas officials that the migrants wanted to go to the city. According to reporting by Colorado TV station 9NEWS, the migrants from the bus seemed thankful for their free bus ride.
“I’m very grateful with [Gov. Abbott],” Enyrebe, one of the migrants, told 9NEWS.
This is the fifth Democrat-run city Texas has sent migrants to in response to border policies put in place by the Biden administration.
“Until the President and his Administration step up and fulfill their constitutional duty to secure the border, the State of Texas will continue busing migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities like Denver to provide much-needed relief to our small border towns,” Abbott said in a press release Thursday.
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While Denver is not technically a “sanctuary city,” Mayor Michael Hancock stated in 2017 that he “[welcomed] the title," but seems to be singing a slightly different tune now. In a written statement Thursday, he asserted that Abbott’s busing of migrants to Denver is “exacerbating [the] situation” and that the city would be “more than happy to send him the bill for additional support,” even though there is no avenue that would require Texas to pay Denver if such a charge were issued.
Earlier in the week, Hancock appeared on CNN describing Denver’s situation as a “humanitarian crisis” and demanding that the federal government step in to bear the financial burden. According to reporting by 9NEWS, the city of Denver is ill-equipped financially to be able to handle the influx of migrants, only receiving an average of $115 in federal aid per migrant arrival at this time. So far, roughly 10,000 migrants have received care in Denver.
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