Republican Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake criticized Republican governors who are bussing illegal immigrants to major cities at Friday’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Lake said she will work with neighboring states and possibly send in their National Guards to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. She criticized the bussing of illegal immigrants to other states and cities across the country, saying the buses should return the migrants back across the border.
“I’m not a fan of bussing people here illegally. It makes for a cute photo op, but it just takes people who shouldn’t be here and moves them further in,” Lake said. “I think we should bring the buses, drive them to the border, and then send them back the other way because we can’t have everybody coming in.”
She said many of the migrants, coming from over 150 countries, have a history of committing murders, sex and drug trafficking.
“We can’t have these criminals coming in,” she added. “They’re not all criminals, but we don’t want any criminals coming in, any terrorists coming in and we certainly don’t want people coming in who are going to be taking our jobs, driving our wages down and then be indentured servants to the cartels. We’re not going to remain a country if we allow that to happen.”
The bussing of migrants has repeatedly occurred in recent months under the orders of Republican Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona. The first bus, sent by Texas, dropped off 24 migrants in Washington, D.C., near the Fox News bureau April 13, then 14 more were dropped off the following day. A third bus reportedly dropped off 30 migrants. (RELATED: Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Vows To Declare ‘Invasion,’ Deploy Troops To Border On Day One)
Around 3,500 migrants have been bussed to the city from Texas and Arizona since April, according to the Washingtonian. In response, Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser requested the deployment of the National Guard to tackle the influx of migrants pouring into the cities from Texas and Arizona. Secretary for the Department of Defense Lloyd Austin denied her request Friday.
Bowser labeled the influx a “humanitarian crisis” as homeless shelters in Washington, D.C., have reportedly grown overwhelmed by the number of migrants being bussed to the city. The mayor also expressed fears that the migrants will be “tricked” into being shipped to the city.
A bus from Texas transported its first batch of migrants to New York City on Friday, Abbott announced in a statement.
Abbott’s plan came in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initially planning to reverse Title 42, a Trump-era COVID-19 protocol allowing for the expulsion of 1.7 million migrants. The Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection warned of and planned for a massive surge of migrants following the policy’s reversal.
Over 3,000,000 migrants have been encountered at the southern border since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
