Dem
51
GOP
49
We assume Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) is patting himself on the back in commemoration of the fact that his administration just shipped its 50,000th immigrant to a state other than Texas. Since the Governor began this project, 1,180 buses have taken immigrants to half a dozen cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
The redistribution of people is not at all proportionate, however. At one end, Los Angeles has received only a few dozen buses and a total of 940 immigrants. At the other end, New York has received hundreds of buses and 18,500 immigrants. This may be related to the fact that nearly every time more immigrants arrive in the Big Apple, Mayor Eric Adams calls a press conference where he whines and moans and clutches his pearls, whereas Mayor Karen Bass does not do that when a new busload arrives in Los Angeles.
Abbott says that the caravans will continue until Joe Biden "solves" the immigration problem. Inasmuch as no other president, including Donald Trump, has been able to "solve" that problem, and inasmuch as Abbott himself has not offered any ideas of his own on how to "solve" the problem, we are going to conclude that the Governor is acting in bad faith, and does not actually believe the problem can be solved, or expect that it will be. The only question is what he's trying to achieve with these stunts. Is he thinking about a 2026 reelection bid? Maybe, but this seems awfully early for that. Is he going to try to sneak in the back door of the 2024 presidential race? Could be, though time is running short. Is he just trying to improve his party's chances in 2024? Possible, though all the caravans thus far have gone to deep blue destinations (the three listed above, plus D.C., Denver and Philadelphia). Probably worth watching to see if the caravans suddenly start to be directed to cities in more swingy states—Atlanta, Phoenix, Milwaukee, etc. (Z)