For some passengers, the 30-hour plus bus ride from the Texas border to the East Coast is exhausting and confusing. When they step off the bus in New York City or Washington, D.C., they don鈥檛 know where to go or what to do next.
For others, a free ride to the Big Apple or the nation鈥檚 capital is more than they ever imagined they would get after a long and arduous trek from their home country to the U.S.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott鈥檚 decision to bus thousands of migrants to D.C. and New York 鈥� in what he described as an effort to bring attention to a 鈥渂order crisis鈥� 鈥� increasingly has become a political flashpoint. It also has raised legal questions.
While conservatives applaud the move, immigrant rights groups and the mayors of New York City and D.C. say that placing people on buses and sending them to other states is a political stunt that exploits and misleads migrants. And organizations that work with migrants say they鈥檙e feeling the strain.
鈥淯ltimately, that is what the governor is doing. He鈥檚 taking these vulnerable communities, weaponizing them by aiming them to D.C.,鈥� said Abel Nu帽ez, Executive Director of the Central American Resource Center in Washington, D.C.
Texas began sending migrants by bus to Washington, D.C. in April. , Gov. Gregg Abbott said the state had begun sending migrants by bus to New York City too.
In a recent tweet, New York City Mayor Eric Adams wrote that Abbott 鈥�used innocent people as political pawns to manufacture a crisis. New Yorkers are stepping up to fix it 鈥� that鈥檚 our city鈥檚 values.鈥�
Faced with the growing number of migrants bused to her city, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser for help.
Nu帽ez said at least one bus a day arrives in D.C., sometimes more. The city, he said, isn鈥檛 equipped to work with a large number of migrants. One of the biggest concerns? Where to house them. The city has a large homeless population and now Nu帽ez is tasked with finding housing for the newly arrived migrants.
That鈥檚 still a problem even though the number of migrants crossing the border and arriving in his city has dropped during the hot summer months.
He said some of the buses don鈥檛 arrive with the same number of passengers when they left the border. Some migrants end up getting off when their bus makes a stop. A bus may stop in Georgia, for example, and a migrant may have family there. In a few cases, Nu帽ez and others have ended up sending migrants back to Texas after learning they have family there.
Texas isn鈥檛 the only state sending migrants to 鈥渟anctuary cities鈥� on the East Coast. Arizona has been sending buses since April too.
Conflicting opinions
Nu帽ez also wants people to know that busing issue isn鈥檛 clear cut. On the one hand, he doesn鈥檛 like that migrants are being used by politicians to draw attention to the country鈥檚 immigration woes. But he鈥檚 also heard from a number of migrants who didn鈥檛 mind the bus rides.
鈥淚f the governor is willing to use Texas tax dollars to do this, it鈥檚 great. A lot of the immigrants are very thankful, actually,鈥� Nu帽ez said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how [his] base would feel about that鈥e have to remember this is a free ride 鈥� a 30-hour bus ride 鈥� from Del Rio, Texas all the way to Washington, D.C.鈥�
In New York, some advocates have expressed concerns after talking to bus passengers. Mura Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, was a recent guest on The Brian Lehrer Show, which airs on the public radio station WYNC.
He said some migrants have complained about not getting back their personal belongings after being released from detention. One person, he added, didn鈥檛 get his insulin. And another one needed medical attention.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just that people are being misled at times, it鈥檚 also that they鈥檙e not being treated humanely and not given the dignity that they deserve,鈥� Awawdeh said.
Awawdeh told Lehrer that border officials have been referring migrants to his group and other organizations on the East Coast. They鈥檙e also sending important immigration forms addressed to migrants who haven鈥檛 yet arrived in the city 鈥� documents that could affect their ability to stay in the U.S.
鈥淎nd that is also a little bit distressing because that鈥檚 where folks鈥� mail is going to go to tell them where their hearing is going to happen, when it鈥檚 going to happen, so it鈥檚 been a bit troubling,鈥� he said.
If migrants don鈥檛 get their identifying information or notice to appear in court, that could hurt their chances of being reunited with family or applying for asylum.
Legal questions
Legal experts say what Texas and Arizona are doing isn鈥檛 necessarily against the law, but it does raise questions and concerns.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just grab people off the street and say, 鈥業 think it would be better for you to be somewhere else,鈥欌�� said Gabriel Chin, professor of law at the University of California Davis, School of Law.
Chin says the three main issues he would look at is how transporting migrants interferes with federal policies; how that may violate an individual鈥檚 rights; and the potential criminal liability of people who transport migrants.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 voluntary 鈥� to the extent that it鈥檚 voluntary 鈥� then it wouldn鈥檛 raise that criminal issue,鈥� Chin said. 鈥淚f these people are under arrest and they get out of the arrest by voluntarily agreeing to go to D.C. or New York, there鈥檚 a question about whether that consent to be moved is in fact voluntary if it鈥檚 premised on an arrest.鈥�
四虎影院 reporter Bret Jaspers contributed to this story.
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