“Asylum seekers from across Latin America and the Caribbean are caught in the political battle over U.S. immigration policy after two Republican governors started sending busloads of migrants to New York City and Washington… [Texas Gov. Greg] Abbott started the practice in April with Washington, and [Arizona Gov.] Doug Ducey followed suit in May… Nearly 8,000 migrants have arrived on the state-sponsored bus trips, straining the resources and humanitarian services of both cities, which have also sought assistance from the federal government…
“U.S. authorities stopped migrants 1.43 million times at the Mexican border from January through July, up 28% from the same period last year. Many are released on humanitarian parole or with notices to appear in immigration court.” AP News
The right criticizes the Biden administration for failing to control the border.
“The Border Patrol reports it has encountered more than 1.8 million illegally crossing migrants so far this fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. That’s more than all of the last fiscal year and more than double that of any single year during President Donald Trump’s term. Indeed, border encounters for this fiscal year are on track to exceed the total for Trump’s full four-year term…
“Government data show that roughly 903,000 of these migrants were immediately deported under Title 42… The rest have been processed under Title 8, which allows migrants to seek asylum in the United States. The Bipartisan Policy Center reports that more than 80 percent of Title 8 detainees are allowed to remain in the country while waiting for their asylum cases to be decided, most of them living freely in our cities and neighborhoods. This means hundreds of thousands of people have been allowed to reside in the United States even though they arrived here illegally.”
Henry Olsen, Washington Post
“What constitutes a ‘massive influx’ in Washington DC and New York City? ‘Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday that the state has sent more than 7,000 migrants to Washington since April and another 900 to New York since Aug. 5 as a part of Operation Lone Star.’ That’s about a single day’s worth of border crossing these days in Texas. Even back in March, Biden admitted that his Department of Homeland Security allowed ‘thousands’ to cross every day, and the situation has grown worse since then…
“Texas and Arizona have been ‘overwhelmed’ by Biden’s border crisis since January 2021. Biden hasn’t lifted a finger to stop it, and political leaders in Washington DC and New York City have only encouraged more illegal immigration with declarations of ‘sanctuary’ and lectures to border states about humane treatment. It’s about time that the Beltway and Big Apple get a taste of the results of those policies for themselves. If that ‘overwhelms’ them, then perhaps they should rethink their cheap talk and put some pressure on Biden to adopt the proper resources and policies to end the border crisis down here.”
Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
“A clear majority of American adults (54%) believe ‘the United States is experiencing an invasion at the southern border,’ and an even larger majority (57%) support bringing back President Donald Trump’s proven solution to end the border crisis… ‘Requiring asylum seekers at the southern U.S. border to remain in Mexico until an immigration court can hear their case’ was the most popular policy chosen, with 77% of Republicans, 54% of independents, and 57% of all adults agreeing with the statement…
“‘Raising the number of immigrants allowed into the U.S. each year’ was the least popular policy chosen, with only 39% of all adults supporting the statement. It does not appear that Biden cares what his immigration policies are doing to border communities. He has never visited the southern border and has also ignored pleas for federal help from Washington, D.C., and New York City, where migrants bused from Texas have overwhelmed those cities' housing resources.”
Conn Carroll, Washington Examiner
The left calls for additional urgency towards implementing comprehensive immigration reform.
The left calls for additional urgency towards implementing comprehensive immigration reform.
“All asylum seekers have a right to have their claims heard in court, yet the US must ensure the system doesn’t get completely overwhelmed. Of the imperfect options available, Remain in Mexico (formally, the Migrant Protection Protocols) makes the most sense. The Biden administration has been begrudgingly working with the Mexican government to improve this program…
“Longer-term, the US needs comprehensive reforms that would pair increased funding for law enforcement and immigration courts with an expanded guest-worker program, which would relieve pressure on the border and ease labor shortages in the agriculture and food-producing industries. Meanwhile, added investment, public and private, in northern Central America could help stem the violence and poverty that have caused so many to flee in the first place. The problems at the southern border are complex but not unsolvable. They should never have reached this point of near-crisis. What’s most needed now is leadership.”
The Editors, Bloomberg
"Local organizers [in Washington] have been frustrated for months at what they say is a ‘vacuum of leadership’ among officials in D.C. as [the migrants arrived]… ‘There is just no support,’ says Bianca Vazquez, a leader in the mutual aid response. ‘We’re crowdfunding a resettlement effort.’… But their outrage escalated last week when Bowser called for the National Guard to help bring the situation under control, which aid volunteers condemned as a ‘militarized response to a humanitarian crisis.’…
“Meanwhile, the federal government has failed for years to put together real immigration reform, and has not shown enough urgency under the Biden administration to meaningfully address the issue… Migrants, in short, are caught between the inhumane border posturing of Abbott and Ducey and the inaction of leaders in Washington.”
Eric Lutz, Vanity Fair
“If we analyze deterrence strategies as tools for reducing migration, it’s clear that they’ve failed… [In 2003] Customs and Border Protection apprehended just over 400,000 people; in fiscal year 2019, the agency arrested more than 1.1 million people. Under previous administrations, CBP has admitted that ‘border security alone cannot overcome the powerful push factors of poverty and violence’ that drive people out of their countries, and ‘walls alone cannot prevent illegal migration.’ But year after year, Congress has primarily funded deterrence policies…
“At least 728 migrants died along both sides of the [US-Mexico] border last year… There are plenty of people who would gladly sponsor refugees if given the chance—but immigration authorities are often hostile to attempts to do so. Members of humanitarian aid groups in Arizona have been arrested for leaving gallons of water on migrant trails. Instead of criminalizing aid workers’ efforts to keep migrants alive, the government could avoid these deaths altogether by letting people sponsor Haitian and Central American refugees.”
Gaby Del Valle, The Nation