First Bus of Migrants Sent by Texas Governor Arrives in DC

The first bus of migrants voluntarily sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to Washington, D.C. arrived Wednesday.

The bus pulled up to a D.C. building that houses Fox News (Right bias), NBC News (Lean Left) and C-SPAN (Center bias) offices before dropping the migrants off a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol building. According to the Daily Beast (Left bias), some of the roughly 30 migrants said they were from Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. 

Abbott, a Republican running for reelection against Democrat Beto O’Rourke, announced the plan to transport migrants voluntarily to D.C. and “other locations” on April 6 after the Biden administration said it would end fast-tracked deportations under Title 42 on May 23. Abbott said the decision was necessary to keep state resources from being “overwhelmed” by a surge of migrants; O’Rourke dismissed the program as a “stunt” but has joined other border state Democrats in criticizing the Biden administration for ending Title 42 without an apparent plan. 

Political divisions were clearly visible in coverage across the spectrum; a Daily Beast article called Abbott's plan “cruel,” and a Fox News homepage tagline called it a “Special Delivery.” Right-rated outlets often used the term “illegal immigrants” and focused on border security issues; left-rated outlets tended to use terms like “undocumented migrants” and focused more on the migrants' experience.