Governor Ships Migrants To VP’s House As Texas Freezes and Power Fails
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As Texas citizens faced a second day without power and plunging below freezing temperatures, their governor Greg Abbott had busloads of migrants dropped off in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve in 18 degree weather late Saturday.
It’s Christmas Eve and about 50 migrants were dropped off in front of Kamala Harris’ residence with the temperature in the teens. Another stunt by Greg Abbott. pic.twitter.com/wUjkxplYmB
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) December 25, 2022
Meanwhile both CenterPoint and Reliant Energy of Texas, sent messages to their customers with conservation tips on Sunday.
“Our natural gas system is operating well under these extreme circumstances. As everyone is trying to keep warm, we are experiencing record usage of natural gas and in order to prevent service interruptions, we ask our customers to conserve energy at this time,” said Tal Centers, CenterPoint Energy’s Vice President, Texas Gas.
Reliant advised customers to use towels to block drafts by windows and doors, and set their thermostats a couple of degrees lower.
Thousands of people in the Houston area experienced power outages during the first night of the arctic freeze, but the ERCOT grid appeared to be holding up. Strong winds on Thursday helped boost the supply, which partially comes from wind power.
Temperatures in Houston reached below-freezing with single-digit wind chills.
An initial two busloads were taken to local shelters, according to an administration official. More buses arrived outside the vice president’s residence later Saturday evening. A CNN team saw migrants being dropped off, with some migrants wearing only T-shirts in the freezing weather. They were given blankets and put on another bus that went to a local church.
Amy Fischer, a volunteer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, which has been receiving migrants sent to DC since the spring, said the organization had been prepared for Saturday night’s arrivals, having been informed about it earlier by an NGO working at the border in Texas.
The arrivals included asylum seekers from Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia, according to Fischer, who told CNN the buses were supposed to go to New York but were diverted to DC due to the weather. Busloads of migrants have been arriving in Washington weekly since April.
“The DC community has been welcoming buses from Texas anytime they’ve come since April. Christmas Eve and freezing cold weather is no different,” she said. “We are always here welcoming folks with open arms.”
Abbott is one of at least three Republican governors who have taken credit for busing or flying migrants north this year to protest the Biden administration’s immigration policies. He previously confirmed in September that his state had sent the buses to Harris’ residence at that time.
Back in May Abbott faced criticism for power delays with Texans Representative Veronica Escobar tweeting: “Another promise made and another promise broken. @GregAbbott_TX, perhaps you could put the additional $531 million you requested for your failed Operation Lone Star to good use and actually #FixTheGrid,” Representative Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat, tweeted Saturday, referring to the governor’s efforts to curb migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Her remark came after the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) asked Texans to conserve electricity after “six power generation facilities” went offline Friday amid rising temperatures and high demand for power.
Earlier this week, forecasters predicted life-threatening minus-10-degree wind chills in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and wind chills as low as minus 30 degrees in the Panhandle.
The lack of concerns over icy roads and infrastructure makes this a different threat than the 2021 Winter Storm Uri, which overwhelmed the state’s main electric grid and killed hundreds of people. Officials are promising that, this time, the power will stay on.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the grid that powers most of Texas, and the Public Utility Council made improvements after Uri, such as ensuring natural gas-fired plants have additional sources of fuel on site and improving communications among electricity regulators, oil and gas regulators, and the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
“The grid is ready and reliable,” said Peter Lake, chair of the Public Utility Commission, which regulates grid operators, on Wednesday. “We expect to have sufficient generation to meet demand throughout this entire winter weather event.”
