Texas has been sending illegal immigrants to other states and cities for the past few months, and it's been causing a lot of controversy throughout the country. Many people against this blame Governor Greg Abbott for racism, but people who agree with this act accuse the Democratic leaders of those states and cities of hypocrisy. So is Texas right for doing this? What do both sides say?
It is important to note that these are only two sides, and other people may have different opinions than others. There are also many different perspectives you can see this in, so it is highly recommended you continue to research other sides.
Many critics of Texas often say that Abbott is a racist person for bussing illegal immigrants outside of Texas. In addition, they often say he is using the migrants to fulfill his political agenda. Many cities with bused migrants struggle to accommodate them, as they are coming in the thousands. Let's take a deeper look at each of these arguments.
There must be some evidence to back the claim that Gov. Abbott is a racist. She slams Abbott, claiming he is "unpatriotic" and "racist." She continues by saying that busing migrants are not how you should solve the border control crisis, as it is inhumane and shows no respect toward the people being bused. Although it is unclear whether Abbott is truly racist (as there's a lack of evidence that I can find supporting this claim, but if anything is found, please get in touch with me), Abbott is a very inhumane person as of right now—sending the migrants to cities where they have no connections or no way to get help. How can that be a good thing? According to Lightfoot, "They're not cargo. They're not chattel. They're human beings, just like you and me." Crossing the border has also been reported to be fatal. The idea that Texas is inhumane comes from the fact that people should not be sent for some political agenda and that Texas is effectively taking these people from the familiarity of Texas into a completely new environment they are not used to.
There could be a level of coordination and cooperation, but he chooses to do none of those things and instead tries to send human beings… not cargo, not freight, but human beings across the country.
To opponents of Abbott, Texas is only showing itself to be worse by using these migrants as pawns for his game of chess. Manuel Castro accused Texas of weaponizing illegal immigrants, making New York City suffer. Lightfoot described it as Abbott using them as pawns to create a crisis. These bused migrants were sent unknowingly, which one could argue is why New York City couldn't contact Texas for these buses. Lightfoot mentioned she was disappointed, "There could be a level of coordination and cooperation, but he chooses to do none of those things and instead tries to send human beings… not cargo, not freight, but human beings across the country." Why didn't Texas bother communicating with other cities to implement this plan? This is an irresponsible move on Abbott's side.
Many cities report struggling to keep up with all the illegal immigrants entering their cities en masse. For example, New York City is currently overwhelmed with an unannounced 4,000 migrants under their care, with 64 more entering at the time of the cited source. Washington D.C. had mentioned that they require $10 million to make an office that specializes in helping the migrants who were bused into the city. The plan may be quite detrimental to Texas' economy too. It may cost $12 million to bus thousands of migrants across the entire nation. How can Texas use so much money for such an inhumane and manipulative act? It further shows how irresponsible and little Texas cares about these migrants.
One important thing to note about Texas is that they have a huge illegal immigration problem. Because of this, they have sent illegal immigrants to a select few cities. Those cities highly criticize them for being inhumane and racist, and some could argue they are inefficient with their money. However, Abbott and his supporters have their things to say about the busing.
For one, the migrants were transported in relatively humane ways. According to one of the migrants from Venezuela, they said they were treated well. Another migrant reported a wildly different experience, recalling that the ride wasn't the best but better than traveling through South America. Of course, that's not to say that all the rides were fine. As mentioned before, there were reports of migrants who had a horrible ride, like Jessica Florence, who reported a lack of food, a lot of sicknesses, and no future. However, that doesn't mean the whole process is inhumane. There is no perfect system; this busing system is no different. But, that does not mean that it is an inhumane process. Some might say that it is more humane. If what Florence said is true, could one not argue that sending the migrants from where there is no hope to where there is hope is more humane than not? Is that not a better thing to do than leave them in a place where they may not be able to survive?
Texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden Administration's failure to secure our border.
The busing started because Abbott criticized President Joe Biden's immigration policies. Immigration is so uncontrolled compared to other recent presidencies under Biden's presidency; smuggling drugs, weapons, and people has become much more frequent and problematic. This border crime means that Texas is struggling with all the illegal immigrants and Texas-Mexican border crime. How can other states and cities claim that Texas is wrong for trying to have closed borders but continue to talk about their migration problems because of Operation Lone Star (the name of the busing operation), which is the same problem Texas has because of the illegal immigrants? Some might argue that would be unfair. Abbott brings this up, calling out Lightfoot and New York City Mayor Eric Adams for what he believes to be hypocrisy.
Why should Texas alone bear the burden of illegal immigration and its effects? Abbot had once said in a statement, "Texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden Administration's failure to secure our border." Illegal immigration appears to be a huge problem in Texas, as it costs much more than one Attorney General, Ken Paxton, who claims that Texas spends over $850 million on illegal immigration. As mentioned before, Texas is experiencing increased crime on the border. Why must Texas suffer this fate alone? Is that not inhumane toward Texas? What about the people on the border? Is it incorrect to say that Texas and the Texan people on the border shouldn't have to be the punching bag of crime at the border?
A Texas is Wrong
B Texas is Right
A I can't believe that Abbott would send so many people across the country without taking care of them properly.
B What do you mean? There are so many cases of those people being well fed and cared for.
A There are cases where people weren't being well fed and cared for too. That's just inhumane. Forcing all these people on those buses... Texas is so horrible!
B I thought they were asked to go on those buses, though. Also, isn't it better to bring those people out of Texas if Texas is so bad?
A That doesn't mean their conditions are any better, and Texas is bad because they're making so many other cities and states suffer for their actions.
B Okay, why does Texas need to suffer all the same problems these other cities are experiencing? They've always been the brunt of these problems, so they shouldn't have to suffer either.
A There are better ways to stop these problems than forcing them out of Texas and killing so many people!
B But they're not doing that on a mass scale, nor do they actually want to!
And the debate goes on.
Remember that this is only one way a debate could go, and many arguments could be made. We've only covered a select few. So if there are arguments I've missed, don't hesitate to contact us and tell us what you think.
Comments