(NewsNation) — Don McLaughlin, the mayor of Uvalde, Texas, said he supports Gov. Greg Abbott’s actions at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Earlier this week, Abbott wrote a letter detailing the measures he’s taken at the southern border in a letter to Texas county judges. The letter reiterated his July 7 signing of an executive order invoking the “invasion clauses” of the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. As a way to protest the Biden administration’s border policies, the Texas governor has also been sending migrants by bus to Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago and, most recently, Philadelphia.
McLaughlin, whose city is near the border, said he agreed with what Abbott is doing.
“I mean, I’ve got a town of 16,000 people, I don’t have the resources to put these people up, to house these people, to feed these people,” McLaughlin said. “We’re sending them to big cities. They’re supposed to have those resources, and they’re screaming, ‘Oh, we don’t have the resources.'”
While some have cheered the migrant buses, others have criticized these measures, with some saying the buses are “inhumane” and that Abbott is using people as political pawns.
Earlier this year in Uvalde, an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at an elementary school and killed 19 students and two teachers.
When asked how his community is doing after the May shooting, McLaughlin said, “It’s been a tough year.”