Gov.ย Greg Abbottย announced Friday that Texas is now busing migrants from the Mexican border to New York City, the stateโ€™s latest confrontation with an East Coast city over the influx at the border.

Abbottโ€™s office said the first bus to New York City would arrive Friday morning at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. It comes months after Texas began offering migrants bus rides to Washington, D.C., where the mayor, Muriel Bowser,ย has saidย the city is now being overwhelmed.

The New York City mayor, Eric Adams, has also expressed alarm, leading Abbott to invite Bowser and Adams to tour the border Monday. Adamsโ€™ office dismissed the invitation.

โ€œIn addition to Washington, D.C., 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,โ€ Abbott said in a news release. โ€œI hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.โ€

The back and forth is steeped in political tensions as the Republican governor โ€” running for reelection and considered a potential presidential candidate โ€” tries to show that Democratic mayors are not as sympathetic to the plight of migrants as their party claims to be. Abbottโ€™s critics have said he is using migrants as pawns in a cynical plot that does little to actually solve border problems.

Caught in the middle is President Joe Biden, who Abbott has long blamed for the border situation. Bowser has turned to the administration for help,ย asking last monthย for the Department of Defense to deploy the National Guard to her city.

โ€œThe migrant crisis facing our city and our country through cruel political gamesmanship from the governors of Texas and Arizona must be dealt with at a federal level,โ€ Bowser wrote to the administration, referring to busing that has also been initiated by Arizonaโ€™s GOP governor, Doug Ducey.

CNNย reported Friday morningย that the Pentagon has denied Bowser’s request.

Abbottย sent a letter Mondayย to Adams and Bowser inviting them to the border region to โ€œsee firsthand the dire situation.โ€ Inย rebuffing Abbottโ€™s invitation, a spokesperson for Adams said Abbott should focus on helping โ€œasylum seekers in Texas as we have been hard at work doing in New York City.โ€

Abbott has been unapologetic amid the backlash.

โ€œThey cannot handle the number of people coming in,โ€ Abbott said Thursday during a speech in San Angelo, referring to Washington. โ€œAnd all I have is bad news for them, because there are an increasing number of buses leaving every single day going to Washington, D.C. โ€” and there may be some other locations on the horizon.โ€

This article was written by PATRICK SVITEKย  of The Texas Tribune.ย  The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans โ€” and engages with them โ€“ about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.ย  This article originally appeared at: https:https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/05/texas-greg-abbott-bus-migrants-new-york/