DHS to send migrants to cities beyond the southern border, as surging migration crisis continues

The Homeland Security Department is planning to transport migrants awaiting immigration proceedings from U.S. cities along the Mexican border into deeper parts of the country.

According to a report by NBC News, that effort will begin in Los Angeles.

The plan is designed to lessen the crowding now taking place along the border, where migrants have flooded the shelters in many cities, causing Customs and Border Protection agents to reportedly release the crossers onto the streets. 

Generally, migrants who are given permission to stay in the country until an immigration judge rules on their asylum claim, are placed in shelters run by nongovernmental organizations after being released from CBP custody. Those migrants theoretically pay for their own flights and buses to cities where they will dwell prior to their court date.

The report says that some DHS employees have begun referring to the model as the "Abbott plan," in jest referring to the Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to bus migrants from his state to Washington D.C.

The newly proposed DHS model would have the federal government pay to transport migrants to shelters in other U.S. cities. In addition to Los Angeles, border-crossers will be sent to Albuquerque, Dallas, Houston and New Mexico. DHS's Southwest Border Coordination Center, which is comprised of individuals from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and CBP is coordinating the plan's execution.