Texas’ busing of migrants hits a speed bump as fewer enter country

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For more than two years, Gov. Greg Abbott has sent thousands of migrants who’ve recently arrived at the southern border to cities run by Democrats.

But in border towns, the buses have largely stopped rolling in recent weeks.

Texas sent no buses north in July, according to one report published this week. Another report said that Texas has not sent any buses since late June for a lack of passengers.

The New York Times reported that the last bus dispatched by Texas left the border near El Paso on June 27 with 50 migrants headed to New York. Texas officials attributed the decrease in buses to a decrease in migrants, according to the Times.

“Texas has decreased illegal crossings into the state by over 85% thanks to our historic border mission,” Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement.

Abbott has vowed to continue the busing program, which only takes migrants who voluntarily get onboard.

The slowdown has coincided with a decrease in the number of migrants entering the country illegally following an executive order from President Joe Biden in early June that widely stopped granting asylum to migrants.

Federal authorities apprehended roughly 32% fewer migrants in Texas in June, the first month that Biden’s order was in place. The sharp drop of apprehensions in Texas was also seen across the rest of the southwest border and continued in July, when they hit a new low during the Biden administration.

The administration has credited his executive order for the decrease, while Abbott has credited the state’s $11 billion Operation Lone Star border mission that launched in March 2021. Through the border initiative, the state has dispatched thousands of Texas National Guard troops to patrol the border and thousands of Department of Public Safety troopers who arrest migrants on state charges.

Two immigrants' rights groups in Texas sued to stop the executive order. Texas, which has sued the administration over its previous immigration policies, has asked a federal court to help defend the policy, according to court records.

Officials in cities that have received buses from Texas have struggled to handle the influx of newcomers, opening new shelters and saying the unexpected costs of caring for migrants strained their budgets.

A spokesperson for New York Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday said the mayor signed an executive order requiring bus companies to notify city officials before transporting migrants into the city and limiting the hours they could — which they credited for a decrease in migrants in the city’s care.

Migration patterns historically ebb and flow due to many variables including changing U.S. border policies and extreme heat during summer months, according to immigration and foreign policy experts. Some of those experts point to efforts by Mexico and other Latin American countries in recent months to block migrants from reaching the U.S.-Mexico border.

Since Abbott began the program in 2022, the state has transported approximately 119,400 migrants to other states, according to figures shared by Abbott’s office last week.

Disclosure: The New York Times has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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