Biden’s Busing Problem: There Are No Free Rides
Texas, which has bused thousands of migrants to the East Coast, could be tapping into a fund earmarked for them. An ever-expanding Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program supports “both local and long distance” transportation. So why should Texans pay all the freight?
The American Rescue Plan, signed by President Joe Biden in March 2021, earmarked $110 million for “humanitarian relief to families and individuals encountered by” the Department of Homeland Security. This was on top of $400 million for the ongoing Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
For 2023, the White House wants a bigger “humanitarian” (read: migrant) budget, noting the skyrocketing expenses in that sector. Among them, the transport of illegal aliens across the U.S.
“What began in the 1980s as a plan to help the elderly, handicapped and vets down on their luck has now become a multimillion-dollar scheme to feed, house and transport foreign nationals who have entered the United States illegally,” says Andrew Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies.
“Many of them paid their own transit without stopping through numerous countries that could have provided them asylum and a ‘new life,’ but now that they’re here, their care and transport is your responsibility.”
“It’s good to have friends in Washington,” Arthur adds sardonically.
What’s sauce for the federal government and allied non-governmental organizations should be sauce for states suffering the consequences of Biden’s open border policies that have dropped millions of illegal aliens on their doorstep. They, too, ought to be eligible for “humanitarian” reimbursements, as New York City and Washington, D.C., complain about receiving a small sliver via coach.
So far, Texas has relied on private donors and state tax dollars to bankroll its outbound transport program. So, too, is Florida, which this week flew two planeloads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in a sort of reverse snowbird migration.
As the human costs of feckless immigration policies mount – and more states join the Texas bandwagon – a fiscal reckoning looms. This week, FAIR revealed that illegal aliens released into the U.S. under Joe Biden will cost Americans an additional $20.4 billion annually.
Mr. President: You broke it, you bought it.