CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to bus migrants to Democrat-leaning sanctuary cities is having the ripple effect the three-term Republican governor likely intended.
While the city of Denver, Colorado, has welcomed more than 18,400 migrants since last Christmas, a report from The Colorado Sun finds that 6,739 of them were bused to other cities — mostly Chicago and New York City. The Sun reports the city has paid for one-way tickets for migrants trying to reach other parts of the country.
Despite efforts to welcome migrants, city officials across the country have struggled to keep up.
New York City, once known as a mecca of immigration, is starting to change its policies around sheltering migrants.
Starting soon, New York will end its sheltering of single adults after they’ve been in the city’s care for two months. Evictions will begin on Saturday. One unnamed source close to City Hall told Politico that the decision was in relation to the belief the shelters were attracting migrants to the city.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) made headlines for warning immigrants once they get into the U.S. not to come to the state.
“Go somewhere else,” Hochul said in an interview Wednesday on CNN.
New York City currently has around 60,000 migrants in its care.
In Chicago, officials have signed a nearly $30 million contract with a private security firm to relocate migrants seeking asylum from police stations and the city’s two airports to winterized camps with massive tents before cold weather arrives.
Questions remain, however, on the tents’ heating capabilities during the city’s notoriously unforgiving winters.
Earlier this month, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) team noted that the city’s migrant expenditures could reach $302 million by the end of the year when factoring in the costs of the new tent encampment sites.
Most of Chicago’s 14,000 migrants who have arrived seeking asylum since August 2022 have come from Texas, some under the direction of Abbott.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.