Texas officials have released the consent form the state is giving migrants to sign before busing them north to New York City or Washington, D.C.
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott began busing migrants who crossed the southern border illegally up to the nation’s capital as well as New York City, citing the city’s promise to be a “sanctuary city” for migrants, in April.
The waivers, released to media group Nexstar by state officials on Wednesday in both English and Spanish, ask for the migrant’s consent to be transported “by the State of Texas or its designated agency officials” to destinations outside of Texas “such as Washington, D.C. or New York, New York,” according to Border Report.
The forms ask migrants for their name, signature, date of birth, the current date, the location of departure, and the location of arrival. Below the signature lines, Washington, D.C., and New York City are listed as the two “available destinations.”
Democrat New York City Mayor Eric Adams has called Abbott’s migrant busing plan “horrific” and accused Abbott of using the migrants as “political pawns” to “manufacture a crisis.”
Adams claimed that some of the migrant families wanted to go to other locations but were forced on the buses to New York.
The mayor has said the city’s goal is to find out each family’s needs and help them with whatever assistance they want, but the city has struggled to place families in homeless shelters in a timely manner. Last week, New York estimated that about 4,000 asylum seekers have been sheltered in New York’s homeless system since May.
The first bus of migrants arrived in Washington, D.C., on April 13, and migrants just started arriving in New York on Friday. So far, more than 6,500 migrants have been bused to Washington, D.C., and New York, Abbott’s office said. Arizona has also bused about 1,000 migrants to other states.
The border crisis is continuing to overwhelm authorities in Texas. As of the end of June, there have been a record 1.75 million stops along the southern border since October 1, the most Customs and Border Protection has recorded since 1960.
Abbott said in a statement Friday that Texas has had to take “unprecedented action” to keep its communities safe. The governor said that along with D.C., New York is the “ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city.”
Abbott added that he hopes Adams “follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.”
Source: Dailywire
