2 Buses of Illegal Immigrants Dropped Off Near VP Harris’s Washington Residence

Illegal immigrants from Venezuela, who boarded a bus in Texas, wait to be transported to a local church by volunteers after being dropped off outside the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris at the Naval Observatory in Washington on Sept. 15, 2022. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Two buses filled with illegal immigrants were dropped off in Washington near Vice President Kamala Harris’s home on Sept. 15, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

The two buses with dozens of people who had been picked up by authorities in Eagle Pass, Texas, arrived at the U.S. Naval Observatory, which is the vice president’s residence, local media footage and photos show.

Illegal immigrants from Central and South America wait near the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris after being dropped off in Washington on Sept. 15, 2022. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Abbott said on Twitter that the buses were sent in response to recent claims made by the vice president—who was tapped last year by President Joe Biden to oversee U.S. border security—that the border is secure.

“VP Harris claims our border is ’secure' [and] denies the crisis,” Abbott wrote on Sept. 15. “We’re sending migrants to her backyard to call on the Biden Administration to do its job [and] secure the border.”

Video footage taken from the scene showed throngs of men, women, and children carrying items including pillows, blankets, and clothing outside the gates of Harris’s official residence.

Marla Bustillos, a representative of the nongovernmental organization Sanctuary DMV, told Fox News that they were “at Union Station since 6 in the morning waiting” and “just heard 20 minutes ago that the drop-off was this one.”

“We’ve already set up a church and a location—a safe location for them to tell us where they need to go next, where they have relatives,” she said, adding that the media “knew the location before we did.”

Emergency Declared

For months, Abbott’s administration has sent dozens of buses filled with people who illegally crossed the U.S.–Mexico border to New York, Chicago, and Washington. Arguing that Texas border towns are inundated and overwhelmed by a significant increase in illegal immigration, the governor said that policymakers in those Democrat-run cities and states should face the realities of the immigration rules they support.

The Republican governor also said those areas are self-proclaimed “sanctuary cities,” meaning they won’t comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and they are a more suitable location for illegal aliens than Texas.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared an emergency on Sept. 8 over the surge of illegal immigrants. On Sept. 14, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an emergency disaster order and deployed the National Guard.

While Bowser, Pritzker, and other Democrats have criticized Abbott over the move, they are reluctant to blame the Biden administration’s policies for a dramatic rise in illegal immigration. A report released last month revealed that nearly 5 million people crossed into the United States illegally during the first 18 months of President Joe Biden’s presidency.

On two separate occasions in recent days, Bowser has requested the National Guard to be activated in the nation’s capital. The Department of Defense in late August denied one of her requests.

Another top Democrat this week blamed Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, both Republicans, for busing illegal immigrants to Washington.

Brianne Nadeau, a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, said “that the governors of Texas and Arizona have created this crisis,” without mentioning federal immigration policies.

“The federal government has not stepped up to assist the District of Columbia,” she told reporters. “So we, along with our regional partners, we‘ll do what we’ve always done. We’ll rise to the occasion.”

Officials at Abbott’s office and the White House didn’t respond by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.