With Democrats gathering at Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, there were expectations that Governor Abbott of Texas would ramp up his transportation of migrants to the city. Yet the expected surge has not arrived, nor does it appear likely to. 

Ahead of the convention, city officials took steps to prepare for a potential influx of thousands of migrants. Earlier this month, officials said there would be 5,000 beds available in migrant shelters and that they were ready for “any sudden increases.”

The city also sought money from FEMA to help address any potential migrant surge.

While Mr. Abbott has insisted the buses will continue to transport migrants to major cities, Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services reported that it has been more than two months since a bus carrying migrants arrived in the city. 

During the Republican National Convention, Mr. Abbott said the transportation of migrants to Chicago would continue “until we finally secure our border,” even as the flow of buses from Texas has decreased over the past year. 

Mr. Abbott started transporting migrants to major cities around the country two years ago in an attempt to bring attention to the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

In 2022, he told ABC News the reason he started putting migrants on buses and sending them to other states was because “the Biden administration, they were literally dumping migrants off in small little towns of 10 or 25,000 people, and they were completely overwhelmed.”

Later that year, buses from Texas delivered migrants outside Vice President Harris’s residence at Washington, D.C.

In February, the cost of the transportation of the migrants was reported to be $148 million over roughly two years, according to the Texas Tribune. The paper also said roughly 100,000 migrants had been shipped to other states from Texas during that time.

About 46,787 migrants arrived at Chicago alone from Texas, according to city officials. 

A spokesman for Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services, Brian Berg, told the Chicago Sun-Times, “What we do know is that fewer migrants are crossing into the U.S. at the southern border since President (Joe) Biden’s executive order was implemented, which restricted the number of border crossings for people seeking asylum.”

“The lower number of border crossings may be informing the number of buses arriving to Chicago from Texas,” he added.

Mr. Berg’s comment comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officials made 56,048 arrests for illegal border crossings in June, the lowest number of arrests since September 2020.