Democrats in El Paso are also busing migrants to NYC

Despite the fury from the White House facing Republican governors for sending immigrants to sanctuary cities, El Paso’s Democratic-led city government has been doing the same thing for weeks and is calling for the Biden administration to pay for it.

Led by Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, the Texas border city has sent at least 28 charter buses full of immigrants to New York City since Aug. 23, at a cost of more than $600,000, KFOX-TV reported this week. week.

City officials say they expect the buses to be paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as part of a quarterly reimbursement process that covers emergency food and shelter for migrants.

The buses organized by El Paso have escaped the intense criticism heaped on Republican Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida, whom the White House has accused of treating immigrants as “movable property” and “political pawns.”

Republican officials say they are willing to give liberal sanctuary cities a sense of the strain that rampant illegal immigration is bringing to border communities.

Conservatives were quick to point out the apparent double standard, with radio host Bruce Hooley tweeting: “Another example of ‘When the Democrats do it, it’s perfectly fine.'”

Led by Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser (above), the Texas border city has sent at least 28 charter buses full of immigrants to New York City since Aug. 23.

Led by Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser (above), the Texas border city has sent at least 28 charter buses full of immigrants to New York City since Aug. 23.

KTTV reporter Bill Melugin observed: ‘The Democrat-led city of El Paso, TX has been sending its own immigrant buses to New York City, and just approved a contract for up to $2 million over 16 months. to transport more immigrants out of the city. ‘

‘They are also requesting a federal refund. El Paso, however, is not being criticized,’ he added.

Abbott has been sending buses to New York, Chicago and DC, including to the vice president’s doorstep, and this week DeSantis sent a plane carrying 50 immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, the wealthy island of Massachusetts.

The White House has criticized the efforts of Republican governors, saying the immigrants, mostly from Venezuela, were being used in a political stunt.

These were children. They were moms. They were fleeing communism. And what did Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott do to them? They used them as political pawns, they treated them like personal property,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press conference on Friday.

She said: “This is an issue that is inhumane, it is abhorrent and we should not use the people, the migrants, who are fleeing communism as a political pawn.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference Friday that Abbott and DeSantis used the immigrants.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference Friday that Abbott and DeSantis used immigrants “as political pawns, treated them like chattel.”

Representatives for Abbott and DeSantis did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DailyMail.com on Saturday afternoon.

Since April, the Abbott state government in Texas has bused more than 11,000 immigrants to Democratic-controlled states and cities, including 8,000 to DC and 2,500 to New York City.

At least 600 immigrants from Texas have also been transported to Chicago since the end of August.

El Paso has been struggling to deal with an influx of immigrants crossing the border illegally, mostly from Venezuela, which has overwhelmed local shelters and Border Patrol processing facilities.

Earlier this week, nearly 1,000 migrants were left to sleep on the streets of El Paso, without access to basic sanitation facilities.

To alleviate the surge, the El Paso City-County Office of Emergency Management has been organizing voluntary transit of migrants through free bus rides, primarily to New York City, since at least June, according to the Texas Tribune.

“OEM has sponsored and provided transportation services for migrants outside of El Paso, which is reimbursable through FEMA,” Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino told the outlet.

“OEM has sponsored charter buses to include a recent shuttle to New York City, this was the destination of choice for those without the means to travel,” added D’Agostino.

A bus of immigrants from Texas arrives at the New York Port Authority terminal on August 29.

A bus of immigrants from Texas arrives at the New York Port Authority terminal on August 29.

In addition, Biden has long been chartering buses and plans to move immigrants from the border to other destinations, an apparent contradiction Carine Hajjar pointed out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Friday.

“The White House calls Mr. Abbott’s transportation ‘shameful,’ but the Biden administration appears to be doing the same,” Hajjar wrote.

On the other hand, critics of Abbott and DeSantis say Republican governors are misleading immigrants, after reports surfaced that many who flew to Martha’s Vineyard were told they would be offered housing and jobs in Boston.

US Representative Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, accused DeSantis of orchestrating a political ploy with the lives of migrants.

“Playing politics with people’s lives is what governors like George Wallace did during segregation,” Moulton said, referring to Wallace’s tactics of tricking black southerners into moving north. ‘Ron DeSantis is trying to earn George Wallace’s legacy.’

Speaking Thursday, DeSantis accused critics of his movement to bring migrants to Martha’s Vineyard of “virtuous signs,” calling their concern for the well-being of migrants a “fraud.”

He said: “By the time even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day comes to their front door, they go crazy and they are so upset that this is happening.”

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