According to statistics compiled by CBS, as of 16 September Texas and Arizona had sent almost 300 buses carrying approximately 13,000 migrants to Washington DC, New York and Chicago. Florida has become the third Republican-run state to traffic migrants/asylum seekers to Democratic controlled states or cities. The bulk of these people were sent from Texas.
Texas, which has spent $12m (£10.5m) to finance the journeys. Arizona has spent about $4m. Florida's state legislature has appropriated $12m to transport migrants.
Critics have suggested that the migrants are being "misled" about the trips and have even compared the process to kidnapping and people smuggling. Migrants from Florida who arrived in Martha's Vineyard told reporters that they were promised work, assistance and expedited paperwork.
Adam Isacson, a migration and border expert from the Washington Office on Latin America, described this tactic as "political theatre".
"There are six or seven weeks until the midterms, and Republicans are starting to slip in the polls," he said. "They are sort of creating their own migrant caravan. It's something that their base can get excited about."
Why are migrants in the US being sent to Democrat-run areas? - BBC News
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