Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday night that immigrants will be bussed from the Lonestar State to Chicago in the latest iteration of his controversial bussing program.
The first busload of immigrants arrived at Chicago’s Union Station Wednesday night as the Windy City becomes the third destination city for asylum-seeking immigrants who are being bussed from Del Rio, Texas, Abbott’s office said.
He has already sent migrants to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.
“To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location,” said Abbott.
“Mayor Lightfoot loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status, and I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city with the capacity to serve them.”
In April, Abbott started bussing immigrants from the border to Washington, D.C. Immigrants started arriving in New York City in June.
Abbott’s bus program, which uses both taxpayer money and private donations, has racked up a price tag of $12 million, or about $1,300 per immigrant bused to the east coast so far.
The immigrants who are part of Abbott’s program are not illegal immigrants. They have cleared the first step of seeking asylum and have been granted legal permission to remain in the country while the federal government decides if they qualify for asylum or not.
The Post traveled to the US-Mexico border to witness first-hand how asylum-seekers from countries like Venezuela and Cuba board the buses in Del Rio, Texas after being screened by federal immigration authorities.
The governor’s office has maintained that the bus program is voluntary and that immigrants can get off the bus anytime they want, however, immigrants aboard a Texas to Big Apple bus called 911 after they say they weren’t allowed to get off the bus in Tennessee.
The Post obtained the 911 recording where immigrants told authorities they were being “held against their will.”