PHILADELPHIA — Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Nov. 15 that the State of Texas has started busing migrants to Philadelphia, adding the city to a list of places already receiving migrants from Texas.
Philadelphia will now be the fourth U.S. city Abbott has sent migrants to after buses of migrants were sent to Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago. The migrants will be dropped off at a station in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning, according to a release from the governor's office.
In April, Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to charter buses to transport migrants arriving in Texas to Washington. Then, in August, Abbott began sending migrants to New York City and Chicago as well. Since the start of the strategy, thousands of migrants have been bused to northern U.S. sanctuary cities.
He said it's all been done in response to what he has called "open border policies" by the Biden administration that have "overwhelmed" border communities in Texas. Abbott said he would continue the busing strategy until President Biden acts on the matter, but did not elaborate.
"Until the Biden Administration does its job and provides Texans and the American people with sustainable border security, Texas will continue doing more than any other state in the nation's history to defend against an invasion along the border, including adding more sanctuary cities like Philadelphia as drop-off locations for our busing strategy," Abbott's release stated.
News of Philadelphia's addition to the list of cities receiving migrants came after Abbott declared immigration from Mexico an invasion earlier in the day. The Texas governor said he invoked invasion clauses in the U.S. and Texas Constitutions and would authorize the State to take "unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion."
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