Texas taxpayers have so far paid $124 million for Abbott’s migrant bus trips

Under a polarizing program Gov. Greg Abbott launched nearly two years ago, Texas has dispatched more than 100,000 migrants in its border communities to cities such as Washington D.C., New York City and Philadelphia, documents obtained by KXAN. The Republican governor started the bus trips as part of Operation Lone Star, his $10 billion immigration crackdown that’s so far shown little sign of deterring border crossings.

As of Jan. 10, Texas has sent 2,245 buses containing an average of 45 migrants each from the border, according to KXAN’s number crunching. During an April 2022 press conference in the first weeks of the program Abbott said some of the buses carried as few as nine people.

KXAN parent Nexstar obtained the documents through a public information request to the Texas Division of Emergency Management, which oversees the governor’s initiative.

So far, Texas taxpayers have shouldered 99.6% of the busing operation’s total cost, according to KXAN. That money is coming from funds already appropriated by the state legislature for Operation Lone Star.

The governor set up an online donation page to help pay for the busing program, but as of Dec. 31, it’s only generated a little more than $460,000, according to the state’s Operation Lone Star information portal.

Most of the state payments made under Abbott’s busing program have been made to Wynne Transportation LLC, while a few others have gone to Transportation Management Services Inc., KXAN reports.

While migrants who board the buses do so on a voluntary basis, immigrant aid groups said Texas deliberately gets in the way of their work to provide help once the buses reach their destinations. What’s more, a whistleblower late last year described unsanitary conditions on the vehicles, including toilets overflowing with human waste.

Further, Texas has faced criticism for dropping off migrants in potentially dangerous conditions, including in 18-degree weather in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ home and in Los Angeles as Tropical Storm Hilary brought torrential rainfall and flash floods to the area.

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This article appears in Jan 24 – Feb 6, 2024.