Dems lambaste migrant buses as violating the spirit of Christmas

Democrats asserted over the holiday weekend that busloads of migrants deposited near Vice President Kamala Harris’ Washington home on a frigid Saturday violated the spirit of the season — singling out Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, as his office appeared to confirm knowledge of the buses.

“Jesus was pretty well known for stranding poor children outside in freezing weather as a hilarious joke to make fun of his enemies,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted in response to a video of people outside the buses.

In a statement on Monday, a spokesperson for Abbott appeared to confirm his office’s involvement in the buses. The drop-off seemed in line with similar actions from border-adjacent authorities, in which governors including Abbott have sent thousands of migrants to Northern cities to protest President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

“These migrants willingly chose to go to Washington, D.C., having signed a voluntary consent waiver available in multiple languages upon boarding that they agreed on the destination,” said Renae Eze, a spokesperson for the governor, in a statement that repeatedly called the Biden administration hypocritical for its border policies.

Eze added: “Instead of their hypocritical complaints about Texas providing much-needed relief to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities, President Biden and Border Czar Harris need to step up and do their jobs to secure the border — something they continue failing to do.”

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) called his state’s governor “a heartless POS.”

“Worthless @GovAbbott dropping off people with no money and no means on Christmas Eve in 15 degree weather near the VP’s residence. How Christian of you, Greg Abbott,” Castro wrote on Twitter early Sunday.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) extended the blame to the entire Republican Party.

“I see the Christmas Spirit is with @GOPLeader [Kevin] McCarthy’s party. It’s sad to see them reduce themselves to this,” Swalwell said, adding that the “chaos and cruelty” were “a feature” of the party.

Swalwell also tweeted a Bible verse from the Christmas story — after Jesus’ mother, Mary, is turned away from an inn — and tagged Abbott.

This Christmas Eve was the coldest on record in Washington, with a high temperature of 22 and low temperatures in the teens, according to The Washington Post. Some of the migrants appeared to be without coats, though they were provided with blankets and given shelter by a nongovernmental relief agency and local organizers.

The cold was the biggest problem for people assisting the migrants, Madhvi Bahl, an organizer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, said Monday. The Washington-based group has assisted more than 7,000 people transported on more than 200 buses in the last eight months, according to Sanctuary DMV, which is part of the group.

The network provided food, supplies, clothing and shoes to the arrivals on Christmas Eve, Bahl said. They also helped find local shelter or book tickets to other places: 10 to 20 percent planned to stay in Washington, while the rest had other final destinations, she said.

Bahl's group doesn't believe busing migrants from the border to Northern cities is necessarily a bad thing in itself, as the responsibility can't fall solely on border cities, she said. But, Bahl said, the manner in which Abbott has transported migrants is "terrible" and the reasons for which he's busing them "are also terrible."

"Instead of just going back and forth on how Abbott is evil — which, sure, he is — the federal government should create a more formalized busing program where people get to go to the cities they're trying to go," Bahl said. The process should be more humane, and receiving cities should take some responsibility for the arrivals with additional support from the federal government, she said.

The Biden administration has been particularly harshly criticized for its border policies this month, under the expected expiration of Title 42 — an immigration policy used by the Biden and Trump administrations to prevent the entry of millions of migrants under Covid-era rules.

The administration said last week it could not end the directive by the deadline of Dec. 21, even if the Supreme Court allowed it to follow through on a lower court’s ruling to effectively terminate it. For now, it effectively remains in place, after Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay on the order.

Critics have asserted the administration is ill-prepared for the influx of migrants expected when Title 42 is lifted, as authorities will no longer be able to turn migrants away without an asylum hearing.

“The government recognizes that the end of the Title 42 orders will likely lead to disruption and a temporary increase in unlawful border crossings. The government in no way seeks to minimize the seriousness of that problem,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote last week in a court submission. “But the solution to that immigration problem cannot be to extend indefinitely a public-health measure that all now acknowledge has outlived its public-health justification.”

A White House spokesperson said on Sunday that the bus drop-offs were a “cruel, dangerous, and shameful stunt.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.