TEXAS sent a plane with more than 120 migrants from the US-Mexico border to Chicago on Thursday.

The move was an escalation of Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s “busing” operation that has expelled more than 80,000 migrants to Democratic-led cities across the country since last year.

The first flight, which Governor Abbott’s office said left from El Paso and arrived on Tuesday, was arranged a week after Chicago’s city council took new action over the bus loads of migrants that have drawn sharp criticism from the city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson. 

The city has said that bus operators began trying to drop off people in neighbouring cities to avoid penalties that include fines, towing or impoundment.

Bus operators could now face tougher penalties in Chicago for not unloading new arrivals at a designated location or failing to fill out city paperwork. 

Mr Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris said on Wednesday that the flights were the result of Mayor Johnson “targeting migrant buses” from Texas.

White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez said: “Yet again, Governor Abbott is showing how little regard or respect he has for human beings.

“This latest political stunt just adds to his tally of extreme policies which seek to demonise and dehumanise people.”

More than 23,000 migrants have been sent to Chicago, according to the governor’s office.