Mayor Bowser: Migrants were ‘tricked’ to board buses to DC

FPI / July 20, 2022

Are illegal immigrants welcome in the nation's capital, one of the most liberal Democrat cities in the nation and the origin of Team Biden's open border policies? Yes and no.

Illegals are being "tricked" by officials in Texas and Arizona to board buses and travel to Washington, D.C., where many of them are adding to the homeless population, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

In a Sunday interview on CBS’s "Face the Nation", Bowser said: "Well, this is a very significant issue. We have for sure called on the federal government to work across state lines to prevent people from really being tricked into getting on buses."

Bowser contended that D.C. officials believe those being "tricked" are "largely asylum seekers who are going to final destinations that are not Washington, D.C. I worked with the White House to make sure that FEMA provided a grant to a local organization that is providing services to folks. I fear that they’re being tricked into nationwide bus trips when their final destinations are places all over the United States of America."

Many of the illegals wind up at homeless shelters, Bowser said, adding that the federal government should be picking up the tab for the migrants and not D.C. taxpayers. The district is ranked No. 1 for the highest rates of youth poverty and homelessness, according to a report from WalletHub.

"Interestingly enough, Bowser sounded like Governors Abbott and (Arizona's Doug) Ducey when she said that local taxpayers should not have to pick up the tab for illegal migrants bused into town. That is exactly the point that Abbott and Ducey are making with the bus rides into D.C. Let Joe Biden figure out how to take care of them. The burden falls on Mayor Bowser as it does the governors when they are bused to the border by cartels and professional immigration advocates. Bowser said the federal government should be paying for it. Again, that’s the point. Texas and Arizona have been picking up the tab for the Biden border crisis," Karen Townsend wrote for HotAir.

Buses from Arizona and Texas have been transporting migrants to the nation’s capital for months, with more expected in the coming weeks.

Under Gov. Greg Abbott's direction, the Texas Division of Emergency Management has chartered buses to transport migrants to Washington, D.C. The migrants have been from the countries of Angola, Brazil, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

"Thanks to the State of Texas," Biden "will be able to immediately meet the needs of migrants he is allowing to cross our border by busing them to his backyard," said Abbott. "The Biden administration's failed efforts to secure the border are appalling. By busing migrants to Washington, D.C., Texas is sending a clear message: we should not have to bear the burden of the federal government's inaction to secure the border, and the Lone Star State will do whatever it takes to keep Texans safe."

Townsend noted: "Mayor Bowser is trying to demonize red state governors in order to normalize illegal migration. Democrats are fond of painting Republicans as evil. Tricking an illegal migrant into boarding a bus and traveling many miles away would be an evil thing to do to a human being. That, however, is not happening and she knows it. She deliberately put it out there to plant it into the minds of viewers. Shame on her."

Free Press International