Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) “Operation Lone Star,” which has been bussing migrants to sanctuary cities run by Democrats, has cost Texas over $124 million in less than two years.
News outlet Nexstar obtained documents with the total cost as of Jan. 10. Abbott has sent migrants to sanctuary cities such as Washington, D.C., New York City, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago. A total of 102,400 migrants have been sent since April 2022 in 2,245 buses.
Abbott added Denver and Los Angeles to the list of sanctuary cities to send migrants to in 2023, due to an influx of migrants coming through the southern border. Migrants sent to these cities board the buses voluntarily. Some have claimed they were incentivized by gift cards.
About 99.6% of “Operation Lone Star” is paid for with taxpayers’ money. The government also solicits donations specified for the program. As of December, the fund had raised $460,196 in private donations.
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Operation Lone Star began in March 2021, resulting in 497,600 apprehensions of illegal migrants. Among them, 39,000 were arrested, with 35,200 felony charges.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Abbott’s office for comment.
