Officials have provided some details on how their plan will work. W. Nim Kidd, head of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, could not be reached for comment on how many buses will be used at the press conference. Mr Kidd said: “We will use as many buses as we need.
A spokesman for the department said the number of buses needed would depend on the request of local officials and that migrants could be taken to other areas outside of Texas, not just Washington.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz echoed a bill introduced last year to send immigrants arriving in South Texas to the Northeast and the Democratic state of California.
Representative Sylvia Garcia, a Houston Democrat, called Mr. Abbott’s announcement “shameful.”
“These families have desperately escaped from poverty, brutal violence and life-threatening situations,” he said. “They can make a huge contribution to Texas if they are welcomed, as the Texans are supposed to do.”
Mr Abbott has built miles of fences and other barriers and deployed thousands of National Guard members along the border, a mission that is expected to cost 2 billion annually. Texas Military Department leaders said this week that the effort, which began last year, was more expensive than expected and would require an additional $ 500 million to keep it going.
But the governor has come under pressure from some conservatives to declare an “attack” under a section of the U.S. Constitution that supporters believe would give Texas officials the power to repatriate immigrants arriving at the border.
Asked at a news conference, Mr Abbott denied plans to do so, but added that “more announcements will be made next week.”
“Texas is evaluating every tool we can possibly use,” he said.
