illegal immigrants – Michmutters
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Democrats suddenly realize open borders are a disaster

Republican border-state governors are sending busloads of illegal entrants — released in their states by the Department of Homeland Security — to DC and New York City, prompting recriminations and pleas for federal cash from the Democratic mayors of those erstwhile immigrant-friendly cities.

Those majors, seemingly unwittingly, are making the governors’ point — that the administration has created a disaster at the US-Mexico line, requiring an immediate policy shift to protect lives and state and local finances.

It started in April. Fed up with federal releases of large numbers of migrants into overwhelmed small towns in his state (including Uvalde), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) began offering migrants free bus trips to DC to shift some of the burden to Washington.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) followed suit in May, and more than 7,300 migrants have since arrived in DC from the two states, creating what even Vanity Fair has termed, “A Migrant Crisis in Washington.”

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), who reaffirmed her town’s status as an immigrant “sanctuary city” after Donald Trump’s 2016 election, now derides Abbott’s and Ducey’s efforts as “cruel political gamesmanship” creating a “humanitarian crisis” in her city that “must be dealt with at the federal level” in a letter to the Department of Defense seeking National Guard support (since rejected).

Bowser was complaining about what, at the time, totaled 4,000 migrants over a three-month period into her city of more than 707,000. In March, by comparison, DHS was dropping off up to 150 migrants per day in Uvalde, population 15,312, or roughly one migrant for every 102 residents daily.

Venezuelan migrants sent by Texas Gov.  Greg Abbott in DC's Union Station on August 2, 2022.
Venezuelan migrants sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in DC’s Union Station on August 2, 2022.
Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) also weighed in, blaming Texas and Arizona in July for busing 2,800 migrants into his city (population: 8.467 million) over a six-week period, straining the city’s homeless shelters. Adams also demanded federal cash to help his government muddle through.

Both governors denied Adams’ charge, but Abbott apparently viewed it an invitation, as he has just started sending buses to Manhattan, too.

Adams’ office and The New York Times described those migrants in New York as “asylum seekers,” but that’s just mostly untrue. DHS statistics show that between July 2021 and July 2022, the department had cleared fewer than 40,000 “arriving aliens” to apply for asylum in the United States.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser accused the Republican governors of creating a “humanitarian crisis” in her city.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser accused the Republican governors of creating a “humanitarian crisis” in her city.
Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

During that same period, however, CBP encountered 2.361 million arrivals at the southwest border, expelled 1.142 million under CDC’s pandemic-related Title 42 orders (that Biden nonetheless opposes) and released around 853,000 into the United States — meaning only about 5% of the migrants Adams is complaining about are really “asylum seekers.”

All those migrants, cleared for asylum or not, were released for removal hearings, which can take years to complete. Nationwide, the average immigration case has been pending 829 days and 953 days in New York. The only relief available to most of those illegal immigrants is asylum, so the ones who do show up for court will apply for that protection to stay here longer, even if they just came to make more money.

The New York Times’ article focused on Venezuelan migrants in New York City. Under Biden, agents at the southwest border have caught 157,600 Venezuelans, 57% of them single adults. Just 1,404 were expelled under Title 42, meaning most of the rest are here indefinitely.

The Times contends the United States cannot send them back to Venezuela — with which America lacks diplomatic relations — but that contention elides the fact that, as The Washington Post reported in January, Biden had struck a deal with Colombia to take back Venezuelans who had resettled there.

Two million displaced Venezuelans have moved to Colombia, and more than a few likely entered illegally. It does not appear, however, that DHS sent many back or even asked apprehended Venezuelans where they were living before they came here.

I’m sympathetic to DC and New York City, but I’ve talked to officials in those much poorer border towns about their struggles to deal with the costs. Perhaps now that Democrats are complaining, the administration will finally pay attention.

Andrew Arthur, a former INS associate general counsel, congressional staffer and staff director, and immigration judge, is the Center for Immigration Studies’ resident fellow in law and policy.

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US

Gov. Greg Abbott vows more migrant buses coming to NYC

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office vowed Friday to send even more busloads of border-crossers to the Big Apple — as the Lone Star State continues to grapple with the ongoing migrant crisis.

The Republican governor said the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan would be a drop-off spot going forward after the first busload from the border arrived in the city Friday morning.

“Over 50 migrants were bused to New York City this morning from the southern border in Texas,” Abbott’s office said in a statement.

“This is now a drop-off location for our ongoing seeking strategy.”

Abbott has already dispatched dozens of buses — filled with more than 6,100 migrants — to Washington DC since April.

He vowed to continue to charter buses to both New York and the nation’s capital as his state struggles to deal with the unprecedented number of migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border.

Texas Gov.  Greg Abbott talks with Fox News' Jesse Waters on border issues.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott talks with Fox News’ Jesse Waters on border issues.
foxnews
Migrants plead for hospitality after arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Migrants plead for hospitality after arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
foxnews

“Because of President Biden’s continued refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies, the State of Texas has had to take unprecedented action to keep our communities safe,” Abbott said in announcing the arrival of the bus at Port Authority Gate 14.

“In addition to Washington, DC, New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city.

“I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.”

Texas Gov.  Greg Abbott vowed to send more migrant buses to the Big Apple.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to send more migrant buses to the Big Apple.
foxnews

Adams, who has already warned that NYC’s homeless shelters are being overrun by migrants, turned down Abbott’s invitation to visit the border earlier this week to see the “dire situation” firsthand.

Abbott told Fox News’ Jesse Watters Thursday night that he wished Adams and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser would reconsider his offer.

“They do need to realize the magnitude of the chaos created by Biden’s open-border policies,” Abbott said.

Texas Gov.  Greg Abbott hopes Mayor Eric Adams will accommodate the migrants.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hopes Mayor Eric Adams will accommodate the migrants.
foxnews
Governor GREG ABBOTT speaks at the CPAC Texas 2022 conference.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott previously invited Mayor Eric Adams to visit the US-Mexico border.
Chris Rusanowsky/ZUMA Press Wire

“They’re up in arms about a few thousand people coming into their communities over the past few months? Listen, in any one sector in the state of Texas, we have more than 5,000 people coming across [the border] in that sector every single day.”

“We’re full in the state of Texas,” Abbott added. “Our communities are overrun, and I started busing people to Washington DC, when local officials could not handle the number of people that had come across our border.”

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