Migrants, who boarded a bus in Texas, listen to volunteers offering assistance after being dropped off within view of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, on August 11, 2022. – Since April, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered buses to carry thousands of migrants from Texas to Washington, DC, and New York City to highlight criticisms of US President Joe Bidens border policy. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The number of buses transporting migrants out of Texas has dropped sharply since President Joe Biden's executive action limiting asylum claims went into effect on June 4, NBC News reports.
During the GOP Convention in Milwaukee last month, however, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doubled down on his commitment to continue sending buses full of migrants to blue cities.
“We have continued busing migrants to sanctuary cities all across the country,” Abbott told the cheering crowd of delegates in Milwaukee. “Those buses will continue to roll until we finally secure our border.”
NBC News reported last week, citing officials, migrant shelter operators in Texas and a half-dozen big cities across the U.S., that the buses have not been rolling consistently for months because of a steep drop in the number of migrants apprehended at the southern border,
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
New data obtained by NBC News from the Texas Division of Emergency Management confirmed through Aug. 8 that the last migrant bus to leave Texas was on June 27, well before the GOP convention began.
NBC News said despite Abbott's promise to keep migrant buses moving to blue cities, local officials and migrant shelter operators at the border say there aren't enough migrants to fill them.
TxDEM data showed that in July 2023, Abbott sent 95 buses to Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, and Denver. This July, no migrant buses were sent.
