TEXAS — Last week, the Associated Press reported the District of Columbia has requested the National Guard’s helping in handling the busloads of migrants transported to and dropped off there by Texas and Arizona.

What You Need To Know

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this week sent a letter to Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and New York City Mayor Eric Adams urging them to visit the southern border

  • The letter comes after Bowser requested the National Guard’s helping in handling the busloads of migrants transported to and dropped off there by Texas and Arizona

  • The letter additionally comes after Adams criticized the busing program. Abbott in a response called Adams' criticisms false

  • Washington, D.C. estimates around 200 buses have arrived from Texas and Arizona, delivering more than 4,000 migrants to Union Station, often with no resources and no clue what to do next

Now, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has sent a letter to Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and New York City Mayor Eric Adams urging them to visit the southern border in order to see conditions there for themselves.

Abbott said Texas has bused thousands of migrants to the nation’s capital who otherwise would have been released in small border communities.

"As Governor, I invite you to visit our border region to see firsthand the dire situation that only grows more urgent with each passing day, and to meet with the local officials, who like yourselves, realize this matter deserves immediate federal action,” Abbott’s letter reads.

Abbott earlier responded to criticisms from Adams of his busing program, calling them “false accusations” and repeating that border security should fall on the Biden administration.

Adams' press secretary, Fabien Levy, released a statement in response to Abbott's letter to Adams and Bowser, referring to his invitation as a "photo-op." 

“Instead of a photo-op at the border, we hope Governor Abbott will focus his energy and resources on providing support and resources to asylums seekers in Texas as we have been hard at work doing in New York City. We continue to work with federal partners to receive additional financial resources immediately, but will never turn our backs on those in need who are arriving here," the statement reads. 

Bowser formally asked the White House for an open-ended deployment of 150 National Guard members per day as well as “suitable federal location” for a mass housing and processing center, mentioning the D.C. Armory as a logical candidate.

The crisis began in spring when Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced plans to send busloads of migrants to Washington, D.C., in response to President Joe Biden’s decision to lift a pandemic-era emergency health order that restricted migrant entry numbers.

Since then the city estimates that around 200 buses have arrived, delivering more than 4,000 migrants to Union Station, often with no resources and no clue what to do next.

A coalition of local charitable groups has been working to feed and shelter the migrants, aided by a $1 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But organizers have been warning that both their resources and personnel were nearing exhaustion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.