Busing refugees to other states promotes human trafficking, Texas religious leader says
A prominent Catholic bishop has slammed actions by GOP governors who are busing migrants out of state, saying it “offends God.”
The series of tweets by San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller come as more than 10,000 migrants have been bused out of Texas, with thousands more sent away from Florida and Arizona.
“To use migrants and refugees as pawns offends God, destroys society and shows how low individuals can be for personal gains,” the archbishop said in a Sept. 18 tweet. “These tactics — buses — promote human trafficking.”
Referring to it as Operation Lone Star, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has coordinated the efforts to bus 8,000 migrants to Washington, D.C., since April, including transporting 100 refugees to Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence.
An additional 2,500 were bused to New York City, with 600 going to Chicago. Abbott said the operation was necessary to provide “much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities,” but the archbishop disagrees.
“Texas is not overwhelmed by refugees. We are a big state. Aren’t we!” García-Siller said. “Comprehensive immigration reform is urgent. Our leaders are doing sick actions without doing little about the issue. The problem is not the refugees, it is leaders that cannot accept: we are one with humanity.”
GOP governors in Arizona and Florida have joined Abbott in busing or flying immigrants out of their states — often to cities with Democratic representation. Many of the migrants have ended up in homeless shelters or on park benches, according to The New York Times.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser have announced emergency procedures to handle the influx of migrants transported to their cities.
García-Siller is an immigrant himself. Born in Mexico, he moved to the United States in 1980 and has “worked closely with the immigrant community,” according to a biography.
He urged state leaders to be “kind and generous,” also calling for comprehensive immigrant inform.
“As God’s people, we are called to act, yes, securing our country, and care for our brothers and sisters coming in,” he said. “Be rational. Think!”
García-Siller is not the only Catholic leader in Texas to criticize the actions against the immigrants. Brownsville Bishop Daniel E. Flores said in a Sept. 16 tweet that the immigrants are being treated with “degrading disrespect ... like pawns in games of political showmanship.”
“Are we so drunk on our own power that we are blind to basic human dignity?” the bishop said. “Judgment on Christians who disrespect the poor will be most severe.”
This story was originally published September 19, 2022 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Busing refugees to other states promotes human trafficking, Texas religious leader says."