This is the article that appeared in the March 2024 edition of Catalyst, our monthly journal. The date that prints out reflects the day that it was uploaded to our website. For a more accurate date of when the article was first published, check out the news release, here.
Whether one agrees with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to bus illegal aliens to sanctuary cities around the country or not, it is indisputable that he is responsible for making immigration the Number One issue in the nation. His gambit was sociologically brilliant. He turned what was perceived by most Americans to be a regional issue into a national one.
What Abbott did was right out of the playbook of the Left’s favorite radical, Saul Alinsky. In his book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky listed 13 tactics for activists. Abbott cites two of them.
The fourth rule is “Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.” By busing migrants to sanctuary cities—making the “compassionate” ones experience what it is like for Texans to put up with the illegals—Abbott called their bluff. Now they are up in arms.
The eighth rule is “Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.” Abbott has not only been relentless in shipping migrants to liberal cities, he has quickened the pace. He has also spread his goodwill around, from east to west, showing his penchant for diversity and inclusion.
We prepared a report on exactly how Abbott rolled out “Operation Lone Star.” Here is a quick synopsis. [The full report is available online.]
It was in April 2022 that he began transporting the migrants. At that time, approximately 200 were sent to Washington, D.C.; by the end of January 2024, the number topped 12,500. Since August 2022, over 37,500 had made their way to New York City; since August 2022, more than 31,200 have been shipped to Chicago; since November 2022, over 3,400 have been bused to Philadelphia; since May 2023, more than 16,000 had been sent to Denver; and since June 2023, over 1,500 were put on buses destined for Los Angeles.
Abbott has now bussed over 100,000 to sanctuary cities. In December, illegal aliens came in record numbers—over 300,000 crashed our southern border.
The data prove that Abbott’s policy is working.
We looked at surveys conducted by the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll examining the top three most pressing issues facing the nation, beginning with the start of “Operation Lone Star.”
April 2022
1. Price/Inflation: 33 percent
2. Economy and Jobs: 28 percent
3. Immigration: 22 percent
Approximately 200 migrants had been relocated by that time.
October 2022
1. Price/Inflation: 37 percent
2. Economy and Jobs: 29 percent
3. Immigration: 23 percent
Over 12,700 migrants had been relocated by that time.
April 2023
1. Price/Inflation: 34 percent
2. Economy and Jobs: 25 percent
3. Immigration: 24 percent
Over 19,040 migrants had been relocated by May 2023 (Texas did not provide data for April 2023).
October 2023
1. Price/Inflation: 32 percent
2. Immigration: 27 percent
3. Economy and Jobs: 24 percent
Over 58,900 migrants had been relocated by that time.
January 2024
1. Immigration: 35 percent
2. Price/Inflation: 32 percent
3. Economy and Jobs: 25 percent
Over 102,100 migrants had been relocated by that time.
The AP-NORC polls found similar outcomes.
2022
1. Economy, general: 31 percent
2. Inflation: 30 percent
3. Immigration: 27 percent
2023
1. Immigration: 35 percent
2. Inflation: 30 percent
3. Economy, general: 24 percent
The evidence is clear: There is a direct line between the expansion of Abbott’s busing and the nation’s intolerance for illegal aliens. Had he not done so, this would still be regarded as a regional issue, and those who live along the border would be its only victims.
Some say it is cruel to bus migrants to cities around the country. We think it is cruel to make Texans pay for the policy prescriptions of those who never suffer the consequences of their own ideas.
It is repulsive to hear Abbott’s critics say that those who support his policy are anti-immigration. Those who enter legally are welcome.
Our one complaint with Abbott is that he didn’t exclusively choose to bus the illegals to the wealthiest and most liberal neighborhoods in the country. Only when those who live in places like Beverly Hills and East Hampton feel the pinch of their politics will matters change.
