D.C. mayor claims migrants are crowding homeless shelters after being 'tricked' onto buses 

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said during an interview on Sunday that the city’s homeless shelters are being filled with undocumented immigrants being bused from Texas and Arizona. 

During the interview with CBS’ “Face of the Nation,” she admitted that it was a “significant issue.” She also urged the government to get involved because she believes the migrants were “tricked” into traveling to the city. 

"Well, this is a very significant issue. We have for sure called on the federal government to work across state lines to prevent people from really being tricked into getting on buses. We think they’re largely asylum seekers who are going to final destinations that are not Washington, D.C. I worked with the White House to make sure that FEMA provided a grant to a local organization that is providing services to folks,” Bowser said.

“I fear that they’re being tricked into nationwide bus trips when their final destinations are places all over the United States of America," she added.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott has sent multiple buses of undocumented immigrants to Washington D.C. as part of a plan to push back against the federal government’s immigration policies and the growing crisis at the border. Texas sent its first bus of migrants to the nation’s capital on April 8.

“What better place for them to go than the steps of the United States Capitol?" Abbott asked at the time.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that they had more than 207,416 encounters with undocumented migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, just shy of May’s all-time high of 239,000. It was the fourth month in a row that reported more than 200,000 interceptions.

During the interview, Bowser was also asked whether local or national taxpayers would have to support these migrants. She responded by saying neither was true.

"Local taxpayers are not picking up the tab. They should not pick up the tab. We really need a coordinated federal response. We know that it’s done for refugees who come to the states from all points of the world and the same has to be done in the situation," Bowser said.