WASHINGTON — (Editor's Note: The video above depicts previous reporting from Sept. 8, 2022)
The governor of Texas has accused the Biden-Harris administration of ignoring and denying the "historic crisis" at the southern border on the heels of a migrant drop-off he orchestrated near Vice President Kamala Harris' home.
On Thursday, more than 100 migrants from Texas arrived at the Naval Observatory in D.C., just outside of the vice president's house.
Gov. Greg Abbott specified that the migrants were sent days after Harris' trip to Houston, "where she claimed the southern border was secure and denied the existence of a border crisis," he said.
"This busing strategy is part of the state's ongoing response to President Biden’s reckless border policies that are overwhelming border communities in Texas," Abbott wrote.
The governor went on to add that the administration has ignored the crisis for nearly two years and that the vice president has yet to visit the border to see firsthand the impact.
"Texas will continue sending migrants to sanctuary cities like Washington, D.C. until President Biden and Border Czar Harris step up and do their jobs to secure the border," the governor said.
Gov. Abbott has since confirmed that the migrants hailed from Colombia, Cuba, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela.
While crowds of people were seen outside Harris' residence Thursday morning, most of the migrants had left the Naval Observatory area by 9 a.m.
Also on Thursday, the D.C.-based League of United Latin American Citizens announced their Stop-the-Buses Task Force, which National President Domingo Garcia said he's unveiled to "prevent the continued use of undocumented immigrants as political piñatas ahead of the 2022 mid-terms."
He said the new task force will involve traveling to Texas and using civil disobedience to prevent the buses from departing in the future and advising migrants of their legal rights.
"These are people fleeing communist regimes, fleeing repression, and they actually believe the Statue of Liberty means something," Garcia said. "It is really inhumane to treat people like that. These are human beings and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect."
Watch the announcement in full below.
Both statements come after Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency and created a new governmental task force in response to the busloads of migrants coming to the District from Texas and Arizona.
Harris has not yet commented on the Thursday arrival of migrants outside of her home.