There's this game that many busing advocates play, where they pretend when convenient that the whole thing isn't about “owning the libs”, raising political profiles in-party, or even highlighting a problem that those who don't tend to have to deal directly with immigration issues have downplayed or ignored.
“No”, they say... “our resources are strained by the influx at our borders making us less able to help these migrants. Sanctuary cities have heroically and selflessly offered assistance that we're struggling to provide, so this transition helps everyone involved. It lifts some of the burden placed on us by these migrant flows, it allows those who offered to help to help, and most importantly, it helps migrants by putting them in the care or in the protection of those who have offered it.”
Everybody knows this is bullshit, and it's provably bullshit. For one, these Governors specifically avoided any coordination with leaders in the locations they're shipping to that could have helped ease the transition. They've picked high profile locations in attempts to point out hypocrisy, sometimes literally busing to the houses of those they blame for the border crisis or communities that they at least assumed would be obvious NIMBYs despite greater resources being available.
Look at Texas. Abbott has sent migrants specifically to Democrat cities in Democrat states, a thousand miles away. Chicago, NY, etc. Literally right outside of Kamala Harris' house. Meanwhile, NOLA and Oklahoma County's police policies officially make them sanctuary destinations (and these locations are essentially on the way from the border to Chicago or NY/DC). There are several places in New Mexico... a state bordering the TexMex border. Literally the only state surrounding Texas that doesn't have a sanctuary location is Arkansas. Busing to these destinations would require less resources from Texas taxpayers. They're certainly areas less densely populated than Chicago or New York, with lower costs of living. Everything would be easier at these locations, but...
They're in red or purple states. They're not places making national headline news over the thing, rather than quietly refusing to cooperate with ICE. They're places that wouldn't appreciate the influx that could actually vote for Republicans. They're not bright and shiny examples of political opposition too far away both by ideology and by miles for the people of Texas to instinctively understand. Abbott is ignoring the “better” locations because helping these migrants or meaningfully addressing the issue through policy rather than headlines has nothing to do with the stunt at all.
To be clear, Abbott's buses could drive through sanctuary cities/counties in red and purple states on their way to sanctuary cities in brighter blue areas.