In its quest to give blue cities a taste of what the Lone Star State goes through every day, Texas has spent millions of dollars busing migrants from the southern border to New York City and Washington, D.C., Axios reported.
The Texas Division of Emergency Management told the news outlet that it "has paid over $12 million transporting migrants processed and released by the federal government in Texas border communities."
Texas paid $12,707,720.92 to Wynne Transportation to charter buses of migrants to the two Democrat-run East Coast cities, according to a spreadsheet of the state's financial information CNN obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Earlier this month, officials in New York City and Washington, D.C. said they were overwhelmed by the influx of migrants requiring housing and other social services.
"President Biden's reckless open border policies have created an ongoing crisis [...] and he has left Texans footing the bill for his inaction," Renae Eze, press secretary for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, told Axios in an emailed statement.
"Until President Biden and Congress do their jobs and secure our southern border, Texas will continue utilizing every strategy to address this border crisis and protect Texans," Eze said.
Using the $12 million figure, the El Paso Times reported that each trip has cost around $1,300 thus far.
According to the Times, a one-way, same-day trip from El Paso to New York City on a Greyhound bus costs $291, while a ticket from El Paso to Washington is $324. Same-day flights to those cities are under $400.
Abbott's office has been seeking private donations to help cover the costs of busing, and donations have totaled about $118,000, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
"Before we began busing migrants to New York, it was just Texas and Arizona that bore the brunt of all the chaos and problems that come with it," Abbott said in a statement on Aug. 19. "Now, the rest of America can understand exactly what is going on."
In a statement last week, Abbott's office said that "the busing mission is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities."
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser have both requested federal aid to help handle the influx of people to their cities, according to Axios.
"There's nothing successful about treating people with this lack of dignity," Adams said earlier this month.
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