PHOENIX, Ariz. (KGUN) — The State of Arizona has spent more than three million dollars to bus undocumented migrants to Washington, DC—and it’s planning to ask the Biden Administration to pay back that money.
Tim Roemer, Arizona’s Homeland Security Director says the state sent 37 buses to DC. The bus contract calls for about $82,000 per trip for bus rental, staffing and meals for all on board.
Homeland Security Director Tim Roemer says the program chose Washington because that’s where the migrants wanted to go, not because of politics.
“The number of migrants that have been transported to Washington DC is less than the number of migrants we see on a daily basis in Arizona and we've transported these migrants over a couple of months period of time. So if the nation's capital cannot deal with the daily intake of migrants that we see on a daily basis, they can't deal with it over a couple of months. Well, then there's the border crisis for you in a nutshell.”
The Mayors of New York and DC have asked for Federal help caring for the migrants.
Roemer says Arizona moved the migrants to reduce the strain on Arizona nonprofits caring for migrants.
He says it’s not clear how many more busloads Arizona will send.
RELATED: Arizona to close border wall whether Feds like it or not
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
