White House accuses Republicans of treating migrants as 'political pawns'

Sending migrants to other states is 'reckless', Joe Biden says

Two busloads of migrants from the US-Mexico border arrived outside Vice President Kamala Harris's home in Washington on Thursday. AFP

Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed that the buses from Texas arrived at the Naval Observatory in north-west Washington. AFP

Since April, Mr Abbott has ordered buses to carry thousands of migrants from Texas to Washington, New York City and Chicago to highlight criticisms of President Joe Biden’s border policy. AFP

Migrants from Venezuela, who boarded a bus in Texas, wait to be transported to a local church by volunteers after being dropped off in Washington. AFP

Many migrants who cross the US border illegally from Mexico are temporarily shielded from deportation to seek asylum in immigration court or released on humanitarian role, once they are freed by US authorities. AFP

Mr Abbott said Texas sent two buses of migrants to Washington in an effort to call on Mr Biden's administration to 'secure the border. AFP

A volunteer assists migrants who were bused from Texas to Washington. AFP

Mr Abbott and other Republican governors have bused migrants to Democratic-held cities across the US in opposition to Mr Biden's border policies. AFP

A migrant at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Reuters

Venezuelan migrants are seen at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, Massachusetts. Reuters

Martha's Vineyard, a summer holiday destination, has a year-round population of only 20,000 people. Reuters

Venezuelan migrants play football outside the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, Massachusetts. Reuters

Volunteers assist Venezuelan migrants outside St Andrew's Church in Martha's Vineyard. Reuters

The White House has accused Republicans of using humans as political props, in a denunciation of right-wing governors transporting migrants in their states to northern, liberal-leaning states.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, long opposed to President Joe Biden's border policies, this week transported dozens of migrants to northern US cities.

On Thursday Mr Abbott claimed that he had sent two busloads of migrants to be dropped off near the private residence of Vice President Kamala Harris at the Naval Observatory in north-west Washington.

Migrants who were dropped off outside Ms Harris's home on Thursday morning were fleeing violence and repressive regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.

“These were children. They were mums. They were fleeing communism,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday.

Condemning the moves by Mr Abbott and Mr DeSantis, she said migrants were being used “as political pawns … like chattel in a cruel, premeditated political stunt”.

Ms Jean-Pierre noted that the roughly 50 Venezuelan migrants sent by Mr DeSantis to the wealthy enclave of Martha's Vineyard had reportedly been misled about their destination.

“These are the kinds of tactics we see from smugglers in places like Mexico and Guatemala,” she said.

Speaking at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala in Washington on Thursday night, Mr Biden accused Republicans of playing politics instead of engaging in bipartisan solutions to the country's immigration problem.

“What they’re doing is simply wrong,” he said. “It’s un-American. It’s reckless.”

The border state governors have sent thousands of migrants to Democratic cities as a sign of their opposition to the Biden administration's border policies.

The White House has denied claims from Republican leaders that its policies encourage migrants to cross into the US. Migration is brought about by other factors, such as violence and poor economic conditions in Central and South America, the White House says.

Mr Biden said the US has a process in place to manage migrants crossing from the US-Mexico border.

“Republican officials should not interfere with that process by waging … these political stunts,” he said.

These and other migrants cannot be expelled from the country as many entered the US to request asylum or because Mexico will not accept them if there is an attempt to push them back across the border.

After migrants seeking asylum cross the southern border, they wait in a Customs and Border Protection facility until they are released into the US to wait for their cases to be reviewed.

Democrats have argued that a policy instituted under former president Donald Trump that sent migrants back to Mexico while they waited for their asylum cases to be reviewed was inhumane.

On Wednesday, two planes sent from Florida carried migrants to the wealthy enclave of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts without providing advanced notice.

Mr DeSantis, who is seeking re-election this year and is a possible 2024 presidential candidate, said Mr Biden has “refused to lift a finger” to secure the border.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced on Friday that a new temporary shelter will be established at Joint Base Cape Cod as Martha's Vineyard does not have the resources to sustain its humanitarian efforts.

Mr Baker said 125 members of the state's National Guard would be activated as part of the effort.

Bodies of dozens of migrants found in abandoned lorry in Texas

Agencies contributed to this report