Gov. Greg Abbott asks for donations to bus migrants as he gets flak for using taxpayer funds

Amid growing ridicule for sending largely empty buses of undocumented migrants to Washington, D.C., Gov. Greg Abbott looks to be shifting at least some of the cost of his controversial publicity stunt out of taxpayer hands.

The Republican governor has added a donation button to his office’s website, urging people to make online contributions to a “Border Transportation Fund” that pays for the 30 hour-plus chartered bus trips. The page also includes an address for donations by check.

“Note that any unused Border Transportation Funding will be applied to the Texas Border Wall Funding,” according to the online details.

In a statement to the Texas Tribune, Abbott press secretary Renae Eze said the governor added the crowdfunding option after “an outpouring of support from across our state and the entire country of people wanting to help and donate to the operation.”

However, Eze didn’t respond to Tribune inquiries about how much his office has raised and whether the bus project will be partially or solely funded by private donations going forward. The funding site only lists total contributions as “TBD.”

Rice University political scientist Mark Jones told the Tribune that Abbott’s foray into crowdfunding is likely a move to shield himself from criticism that he’s providing free rides for border crossers. Only migrants who volunteer are placed on the buses, and they receive free meals on the trek. Many are being met by family members once they arrive, according to news reports.

“Many conservatives pounced on him as all hat and no cattle,” Jones said, “in that he was talking tough, but in the end, all his busing was going to do was provide a free trip for undocumented migrants to the East Coast that they otherwise would have had to pay for or that liberal nonprofits would have had to pay for.”

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This article appears in Apr 20 – May 3, 2022.