Opinion: Give Me My Free Bus Ride!

I recently became aware that Texas – the state where I reside – has been busing undocumented immigrants to Democrat-run cities like Chicago, Denver and New York. The idea is to give those cities a taste of the border crisis that Texans have had to deal with.

Since Gov. Greg Abbott announced the program in 2022, Texas has spent more than $148 million on bus travel for immigrants.

As a life-long Texan and tax payer in Dallas, I have one thing to say to Gov. Abbot: “I want MY free bus ride!”

Spending my hard-earned tax dollars frivolously on free rides for people WHO AREN’T EVEN CITIZENS makes no sense. On the other hand, I have cousins and friends in Colorado who I’d love to go see for free. Send me to Denver!

Colorado already knows the suffering that Texans experience. Every year during the blistering hot months of summer, millions of Texas travel at their own expense to the cooler mountainous climes, to the consternation of the mild-mannered westerners who live there. Coloradoans have had to put up with this influx of Texans for decades. They feel our pain.

Now – with Gov. Abbott picking up the tab – thousands of immigrants can step off the air-conditioned bus, breathe in the sparkling clear Colorado air and marvel at the magnificent Rocky Mountains.

Well, not on my dime. At least not until I get my free bus ride.

I’ve tried to think kindly toward the immigrants that cross our borders. They’re usually either fleeing oppression, escaping gangs or looking to work at the jobs we don’t want to do. I’m also aware that the Bible stresses kindness to strangers. Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

But even if they’re angels, do they really need a free bus ride paid for by my tax dollars?

Gov. Abbott, give me my bus ride!

My family used to ride the train from Dallas to Denver back in the day. The Texas Zephyr would pull out of Union Station and take us overnight, for a nominal fee, through the boring flatlands of our state to the beautiful vistas of Colorado. But that train was canceled decades ago. Now the state is instead making plans for a “bullet train” that will levitate us from Dallas to Houston. But no one really wants to go to Houston because it is unbearably hot and humid.

Which brings me back to my one demand: “Gov. Abbott, give me my free bus ride to Denver!”

And make it a round-trip ticket. Thank you.