Some migrants who illegally crossed the border into Texas are upset that the state is no longer busing them from Brownsville to liberal cities, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

As part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s emergency initiative to curb the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border, the state began busing thousands of incoming migrants to Democrat-run cities across the U.S. starting in 2022, including New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago. Texas stopped busing migrants to these cities at the beginning of February, frustrating some incoming migrants, according to NYT reporter Jack Herrera.

“They’re mad when they find out,” Victor Maldonado, director of the Ozanam Center shelter, told the NYT. “They had heard that Texas has free buses.”

Abbott has bused and transported over 100,000 migrants to sanctuary cities since April 2022. Chicago and New York City have received the bulk of the incoming migrants; Texas has bused over 30,800 migrants to Chicago and 37,100 to New York City.

State and city leaders in these sanctuary cities have criticized Abbott’s policies, claiming that it is straining available resources – even as they continue to welcome migrants.

“It started with a madman down in Texas [who] decided he wanted to bus people up to New York City,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said of Abbott in September. Abbott later responded that Adams “could not last a week in Texas.”

Abbott met with former President Donald Trump at the southern border in Eagle Pass on Thursday to discuss the ongoing illegal immigration crisis and the effects it has had on Texas. President Joe Biden also visited the southern border on Thursday amid criticisms he has failed to secure the border.

Illegal immigration under Biden has surged. Approximately 2.5 million migrant encounters were recorded at the southern border in fiscal year 2023, according to Customs and Border Protection.

Jake Smith on February 29, 2024