El Paso Doing “Kinder, Gentler” Version Of Busing Immigrants To Other Cities

So far, around 9,000 migrants have been bussed from Texas to northern cities, primarily Washington D.C. and New York City.  Now, the first migrants have been bussed out of El Paso.

According to the El Paso Times, the El Paso Office of Emergency Management reached out to the state for assistance.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Last week, one bus of migrants was sent to New York. On Monday, there was a plan to send a busload to Chicago but only one woman said she wanted to go there so they canceled the plan.

Governor Greg Abbott has contended that “no migrants” are being sent anywhere without their consent. NYC Mayor Eric Adams, though, has countered that the busses are being sent without any notification, estimated arrival dates, or coordination with New York authorities or migrant-aid groups there.

Here’s the way El Paso is doing migrant bussing differently. KTSM reports that the El Paso OEM agreed to put migrants on state-chartered busses, BUT with some key conditions.  Those conditions include, “coordination between El Paso’s OEM, local NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and NGOs in the destination cities”, according to Jorge Rodriguez with the Office of Emergency Management in El Paso.

Rodriguez also said, “At no point was this operation ever handed over to the state.”  Those NGOs dealing with migrants would include charitable causes like Amnesty International and Refugee Council USA as well as religious organizations such as Catholic Charities USA and Lutheran Refugee Services.

So far, the busing program under Operation Lone Star has provided free bus transportation to 9,200 migrants since April at an average cost of $1,300 per person. Comparatively, a one-way flight from Texas to New York or Washington D.C. would cost less than $400.