31 December 2023
Updated 02 January 2024
Whether you prefer the term “Illegal Immigrant” or Undocumented Immigrant”, both refer to foreign-born persons who have either entered the United States without permission or have overstayed their legally allotted time in the country.1
If all politics is local, as Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill and others have claimed, then it is clear that Texas has successfully transformed a national political issue into a local one, at least for progressive, left-leaning States and cities.
Here is what I mean. In the face of what has been touted as a “national humanitarian crisis that demands a national solution”2, the State of Texas has adopted the policy of bussing what CNN terms “Asylum Seekers”2 to self-proclaimed sanctuary cities. The reason for this is that of the 1,954 miles of border between the United States and Mexico, 1,254 miles of it are in Texas, and huge numbers of illegal crossings occur there. In the third week of December alone, some 50,000 crossed into Texas illegally, with over 225,000 along the entire border in all of December 3. Governor Abbott has decided that it is no longer tenable for Texas to absorb the burden of receiving, processing, and caring for these illegal entrants. He has taken action by shifting some of the burden from Texas to liberal-leaning cities that have identified themselves as so-called sanctuary cities.
Sanctuary cities are those cities that have declared that they will in some way refuse to support federal immigration laws and regulations. In short, they are led by mayors or executives who wish to establish a more welcoming culture in their cities for people whom they see as oppressed or persecuted4. These cities, notably Chicago, New York, and Denver have established policies that welcome and care for illegal immigrants. The leaders of these cities (and presumably the populations of these cities, who after all vote for the leaders) have not historically taken exception to the porous southern border. This welcoming attitude might be changing as Texas directs its illegal immigrant population to sanctuary cities.
As buses of illegal immigrants arrive in sanctuary cities, the leaders of these cities are experiencing what Texas has experienced all along. Waves of illegal immigrants arriving at all hours of the day and night with little or no notice quickly overwhelm the ability of the receiving jurisdiction to respond. As of December 30, 2023, Texas has bussed over 90,000 illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities. Here is the breakdown of which cities received illegal immigrants and how many they received, according to CNN2.
New York: 33,600
Chicago: 28,000
Denver: 13,800
Washington DC: 12,500
Philadelphia: 3,400
Los Angeles: 1,300
The three cities with the largest influx of illegal immigrants bussed from Texas are complaining that the arrivals are taxing their abilities to deliver essential services within their municipalities. They further complain that because illegal immigrants are being dropped off at disparate locations with no notice they are having difficulties caring for them.
Now for the irony: New York City and Chicago have implemented a series of new regulations seeking to control and regulate the influx of illegal immigrants from Texas. These cities have limited when and how buses carrying immigrants can arrive, implemented advance notice requirements, and have imposed a permit process. If it can be believed, New York City has prohibited illegal immigrant arrivals “during official city-observed holidays”1. In addition, both New York and Chicago have imposed strict regulations on bus drivers and bus companies transporting illegal immigrants into their jurisdictions, with fines and impounding imposed for noncompliance. It seems that they are taking these steps to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into their jurisdictions while condemning the border states for attempting to stem the same flow. Denver has had enough as well. Mayor Johnston wants to limit bus arrivals to the hours of 8:00 am through 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. He has also called on Congress and President Biden to take action to solve the problem1. Presumably, he is talking about securing the border, which is, ironically, what the border states want as well.
If you take the time to read my sources listed below, you will note that CNN and the Mayors insist on calling these desperate people asylum seekers. Rescue.Org offers insight into what qualifies a person to seek asylum in the United States on their webpage5. Here is what they say about the requirements:
Asylum is a form of protection granted to individuals who can demonstrate that they are unable or unwilling to return to their country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of:
- race,
- religion,
- nationality,
- membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
To be fair, some of the 225,000 illegal immigrants who entered the United States in December may well be fleeing persecution, but there is statistically no way that all of them are fleeing persecution. The vast majority are fleeing for economic reasons, and are entering the United States taking advantage of the Biden Administration’s policies.
In order to solve this national emergency the Biden Administration must secure the border and abandon the feel-good politics it currently endorses. After all, members of his own party are experiencing firsthand as the illegal immigrants they previously endorsed and supported are arriving in numbers too substantial to support. It seems that in the end, all politics is local after all.
UPDATE:
CNN reported on January 2, 2024, that hundreds of illegal immigrants were dropped off in New Jersey, in an apparent attempt to “evade new rules aimed at curbing the massive numbers of arrivals in New York City.”6
It seems that authorities in New York are furious that Texas is exploiting loopholes in New York City’s rules designed to control the influx of immigrants. It seems odd to me that the authorities in New York City have no comments about the loopholes the illegal immigrants are exploiting to enter the United States illegally. I love the irony here – don’t you?
References:
1. What’s the difference between legal and undocumented immigrants?
https://www.dshs.wa.gov/faq/what%E2%80%99s-difference-between-legal-and-undocumented-immigrants, accessed December 31, 2023
2. Texas is sending asylum seekers to major cities by bus with little notice. These mayors want to pump the brakes By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Updated 11:06 AM EST, Sat December 30, 2023
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/30/us/asylum-seekers-texas-city-mayors/index.html Accessed 31 December 2023
3. Migrants cross U.S. border in record numbers, undeterred by Texas’ razor wire and Biden’s policies https://www.cbsnews.com/news/record-number-migrant-border-crossings-december-2023/ Accessed 31 December 2023
4. What are sanctuary cities, and can they be defunded? By Tal Kopan, CNN Updated 3:40 PM EDT, Mon March 26, 2018 https://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/25/politics/sanctuary-cities-explained/index.html Accessed 31 December 2023
5. Is it legal to cross the U.S. border to seek asylum? Last updated: October 6, 2023,
Rescue.org, https://www.rescue.org/article/it-legal-cross-us-border-seek-asylum Accessed 31 December 2023
6. Hundreds of migrants dropped off in New Jersey, bypassing New York City restrictions,
Zenebou Sylla and Polo Sandoval, updated 7:04 AM EST, Tue January 2, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/02/us/new-jersey-migrant-buses-nyc/index.html, accessed 02 January 2024
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