Image source: Fox News
Migrants: Busloads of immigrants were carried and dropped off in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ Washington, DC, home on Christmas Eve.
When the bus pulled away, the refugees were left outside in the 18-degree weather.
The action is the most recent in a series of heated exchanges between the Biden administration and state officials concerning American immigration law.
The news
Three buses carrying migrants arrived at the Naval Observatory, where Kamala Harris lives, on Saturday night.
The refugees were unprepared for the freezing weather, but a neighborhood grassroots organization, the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, welcomed them.
The conflict
The Biden administration tried to repeal the pandemic-era rule that authorized the US to refuse entry to immigrants earlier this year.
State governors then began relocating migrants to Washington, DC.
Texas and Ariza governors started sending charter buses to DC loaded with immigrants and refugees.
There was no local or federal government present to greet them when they arrived at the location in August.
The Biden administration attempted to overturn the Title 42 decision permitting the US to refuse entry to migrants, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who explained why he dispatched the buses.
According to Abbott’s administration, 6,100 refugees in just one month were sent to Washington, DC, with a second bus coming to New York City later.
“In addition to Washington, DC, New York 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,” Abbott said.
“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.”
Greg Abbott claimed that his state deliberately sends migrants to sanctuary cities, where forceful immigration deportation is prohibited.
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Criticism
Amy Fischer, a member of the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, criticized Abbott’s actions in a Sunday interview with NPR’s All Things Considered.
According to Fischer, the Texas Governor’s actions “were rooted in racism and xenophobia.”
“At the end of the day, everybody who arrived here last night was able to get free transportation, on a charter bus, that got them closer to their final destination,” she said.
Chris Magnus, a US Customs & Border Protection Commission member, criticized Abbott’s choice to relocate migrants in April for not consulting the federal government and the local border towns sufficiently.
The border
Two busloads of migrants arrived at Kamala Harris’ home in September.
After Harris claimed that the border was secure in an interview, the buses arrived.
“The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, particularly over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed,” she said.
More than 8,700 migrants have been transported from the Texas border to Washington, DC, since December 22.
Another total of 6,520 were shipped to New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, according to Greg Abbott’s office.
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Abbott’s letter
The Texas governor penned the following letter to President Joe Biden on December 20:
“Dear President Biden: With cold temperatures gripping Texas, your inaction to secure the southern border is putting the lives of migrants at risk, particularly in the City of El Paso.”
“With thousands of men, women, and children illegally crossing into Texas every day, and with the expectation that those numbers will only increase if Title 42 expulsion end, the state is overburdened as we respond to this disaster caused by you and your administration.”
“Your policies will leave many people in the bitter, dangerous cold as a polar vortex moves into Texas.”
“This terrible crisis for border communities in Texas is a catastrophe of your own making.”
“These communities and the state are ill-equipped to do the job assigned to the federal government – house the thousands of migrants flooding into the country every day.”
“With perilous temperatures moving into the area, many of these migrants are at risk of freezing to death on city streets.”
“Texas has borne a lopsided burden caused by your open border policies. The need to address this crisis is not the job of border states like Texas.”
“Instead, the US Constitution dictates that it is your job, Mr. President, to defend the borders of our country, regulate our nation’s immigration, and manage those who seek refuge here.”
“While you must step up and perform your constitutional duties, I will continue my work with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the Texas Military Department, and all other available state assets to protect Texas from the torrent of migrants and cartel activity streaming into our state.”
“You and your administration must stop the lie that the border is secure and, instead, immediately deploy federal assets to address the dire problems you have caused.”
“You must execute the duties that the US Constitution mandates you perform and secure the southern border before more innocent lives are lost.”
References:
Busloads of migrants dropped off at Kamala Harris’s home on Christmas Eve
GOP governors sent buses of migrants to DC and NYC – with no plan for what’s next
