Ever since the current migrant crisis occurring at the southern border began, it was abundantly clear that President Joe Biden did not take the issue seriously. In fact, his rhetoric and policies inspired folks from Central and South America to make the trek to the border in the hopes of seeking asylum or managing to get into the country illegally.
After almost a year of both Republicans and Democrats calling on the Biden administration to do something about the flood of migrants that have been showing up at the southern border, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began taking action. He launched Operation Lone Star and deployed the Texas National Guard and the Department of Public Safety to help apprehend illegals attempting to sneak into the country.
According to Abbott’s office:
“Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to more than 300,800 migrant apprehensions and more than 19,400 criminal arrests, with more than 16,800 felony charges reported. In the fight against fentanyl, DPS has seized over 335 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.”
But the move that is gaining the most attention is what I call the Abbott Express. This part of the Operation Lone Star initiative involves sending migrants to blue cities on buses, forcing these cities to deal with the consequences of the open borders policies their Democratic leadership supports.
So far, the Abbott Express has carried thousands of illegal immigrants to Washington D.C., New York City, and most recently, Chicago. Needless to say, this move resulted in much bitching and moaning coming from Democrats – especially the mayors of these cities who have proudly lauded their sanctuary status.
Many rightly view this move as a political stunt. It is clearly intended to bring more attention to the issue. But is it possible that it could accomplish what others haven’t when it comes to getting that geriatric authoritarian in the White House to finally do something about the problem?
Some have speculated that if bringing the border to blue cities has enough of an impact, then even Democrats will finally have to be more forceful in calling out the president for his lack of interest. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus,” express his hope that this move would finally do the trick:
Well, you begin to wonder, what does it take to get President Biden’s attention? And hopefully, the mayors of New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. can do that. Because 108,000 Americans have died of drug overdoses from drugs that have come across that southwestern border. And President Biden and his administration apparently haven’t noticed. And 2.3 million migrants have flooded the border, overwhelmed Border Patrol and our border communities. So I think Governor Abbott is doing the right thing, trying to get the attention of people who might be able to get President Biden’s attention, so we can actually fix the problem.
As stated previously, the Democratic mayors running these cities have balked at the very idea that they should have to deal with the issues they helped to create. The genius of this move is that it forced them to reveal their own hypocrisy – they are fine with policies that essentially invite people to come to the U.S. illegally as long as it’s not in their backyard.
In fact, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot stepped in it when it was revealed that she transported 100 of the migrants who arrived on the Abbott Express last week to a neighboring suburb. What was even more remarkable about this act was that she did not even bother to tell the mayor of Burr Ridge, the suburb to which the migrants were sent, that these folks would be arriving in his city.
If Abbott were to keep up this initiative, it might get more Democrats on board with the idea that we shouldn’t be encouraging people to swarm the southern border. It is definitely a long shot – Biden has shown that he really does not wish to deal with this issue. But if the Abbott Express were to continue expanding its operations to other blue cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and perhaps others, it might force more Democrats to feel the pain of their policies.
As I said, it’s a long shot, but at this point, the only other option is to just wait it out until we can get a real president in office who cares about the plight of border towns dealing with the influx of migrants. That’s another two years at least. Right now, Republicans have to try as many different methods as possible.
