Abbott's campaign hits back after NYC Mayor Adams threatens to bus New Yorkers to Texas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's campaign on Tuesday shot back at New York City Mayor Eric Adams after Hizzoner threatened to send busloads of New Yorkers to Texas to campaign against Abbott in the upcoming gubernatorial election in retaliation for Texas sending busloads of migrants to the Big Apple.

"I already called all of my friends in Texas and told them how to cast their vote, and I am deeply contemplating taking a busload of New Yorkers to go to Texas and do some good old-fashioned door knocking because, for the good of America, we have to get him out of office," Adams said Tuesday during a press conference.

Adams' comments marked the latest in a spat between the liberal cities of Washington, D.C., and New York City and the conservative border states of Arizona and Texas. The governors of the states have enraged the liberal mayors by sending thousands of migrants to their cities — which the mayors say have strained their social systems.

Abbott's campaign responded to Adams' comments later Tuesday.

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"Because of high taxes, out of control crime, and poor leadership by the Mayor, people are volunteering to leave New York City without the Mayor asking," campaign spokesperson Mark Miner told Fox News Digital. "It looks like Mayor Adams has taken on the additional role of political director for [Democratic candidate] Beto O’ Rourke." 

That clash came hours before three more buses arrived in New York City on Wednesday morning.

The movement of migrants into the cities has become a major political issue in recent weeks. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently called the situation a humanitarian crisis and requested the deployment of the National Guard — a request denied by the Pentagon. Both mayors have blamed the Republican states, with Adams on Tuesday again attacking Abbott.

"It's unimaginable coming to a country, your first visit here, someone is throwing you out as the governor of Texas is doing and then trying to navigate this complex country to deliver your services," he said.

The governors of Arizona and Texas, however, have said that the mayors are experiencing a small slice of the effects of the Biden administration’s border policies, which they blame for the enormous number of migrant encounters at the border each month. There have been more than 200,000 migrant encounters a month over the last four months, with more than 500,000 getaways since the beginning of the fiscal year in October. 

Abbott began busing migrants to D.C. in April in what he said was an effort to bring the migrant crisis to the politicians responsible for it. He has since started sending migrants to New York City as well. Arizona has been sending migrants to D.C. but has said it is not sending them to New York.

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"Washington D.C. finally understands what Texans have been dealing with every single day, as our communities are overrun and overwhelmed by thousands of illegal immigrants thanks to President Biden’s open border policies," Abbott’s office said in a statement earlier this month.

On Friday, he said that New York City "is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,"

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On Sunday, another bus arrived in New York City, with 40 migrants on board — only 14 of whom disembarked in the Big Apple. Abbott has also said he is considering looking at other cities where migrants can be sent. 

Separately, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has mulled sending migrants to President Biden's home state of Delaware.

Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.