Arizona has bused nearly 2,000 migrants from the border
The program has cost the state an estimated $4 million since it began in May
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- The State of Arizona has sent nearly 2,000 migrants from the border state to the nation’s capital in the four months it has been in operation.
Arizona is one of three states sending migrants, specifically asylum-seekers, to other locations. The governors of Texas and Florida have come under increased scrutiny over their destinations for migrants. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott most recently sent two busloads of migrants outside the Vice President’s Residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent two planes with migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Regarding the migrants being sent via bus from Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey’s office said they continue to send them to Washington, D.C. Since the program started in May, fifty busloads of migrants have been sent to Washington, D.C. totaling approximately 1,809 migrants. A spokesperson for Gov. Ducey’s office said all those on the bus trips are going voluntarily and have an intended destination of the East Coast.
Arizona’s Family has previously reported the cost for each busload of migrants from Arizona to D.C. totals $82,146, according to the contract between the State of Arizona and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare, the company selected to transport the asylum seekers.
Costs for the transportation of fifty busloads of migrants is estimated to be at least $4 million. In announcing the program, Ducey said he would be sending the bill to the Biden Administration. The Arizona Governor’s office previously told Arizona’s Family that immediate costs from the program are being funded by the State Border Security Fund.
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