HOUSTON — Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee from Houston on Friday asked for a federal investigation into the governors of Texas, Florida, and Arizona over the transportation of migrants out of state.
CBS reports those Republican governors have bussed or flown more than 13,000 migrants to Democrat-run cities or politically liberal areas since the spring.
The congresswoman wants investigators to look into whether transporting those migrants broke civil or criminal law.
RELATED: Group of Republican governors continues busing migrants to sanctuary cities in other states
She calls these efforts, “A tragedy waiting to happen.”
Those governors have vowed to continue transporting people out of state until issues at the Mexican border are addressed.
For many immigrants, the road to the American Dream means a stop at the federal courthouse in Downtown Houston.
A place where Jackson Lee on Friday criticized the way other migrants on their own journeys have been treated.
“I believe it is un-American, and I believe it is illegal," Jackson Lee said.
The Democrat from Houston shared copies of letters she sent this morning to the U.S. Attorney General and the Homeland Security secretary asking for an investigation into the transportation of migrants.
“Many of them have been interviewed, and they have said, ‘We didn’t know where we were going, we just got on the plane,'” she said.
Angela Ortega, the founder of NACC Disaster Services, is heading to New York after city officials asked for help setting up a transitional center. She says it’ll have the same setup as the one her nonprofit ran for Haitian migrants in Houston last year.
"We shuttle them to the airport or to their respective travel and then they’ll go to their sponsor’s home or their family home," Ortega said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Thursday he’ll keep bussing migrants to “sanctuary cities” until the border’s secure.
On Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to spend all $12 million the Florida Legislature gave him to transport migrants.
“This is an issue that he wants because he injected himself into this," said veteran CBS Miami reporter Jim DeFede.
DeFede has covered Gov. DeSantis throughout his political career.
“This has little to do with 2022. This is likely a lot more about his national ambitions for the presidency in 2024," DeFede said.
Abbott was in Houston on Friday as a keynote speaker for a Texas Asian Republican Assembly event. The governor was honored as the assembly's Statesman of the Year.
He spoke about the importance of the Asian vote in the upcoming November election and addressed bail reform, immigration and the transportation of migrants.
When asked about Jackson Lee's comments, Abbott said he hadn't heard them yet, but said Texas will continue to bus migrants out of state.