New York Gets Influx of Asylum-Seekers Courtesy of the Texas Governor

Several weeks after he first began inundating Washington, D.C., with busloads of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, announced Friday morning that the first of many such buses has arrived at New York City.The migrants arrived at the city’s main bus terminal, the Port Authority, on Manhattan’s west side, Mr. Abbott said in a statement. He said New York would join Washington as a primary destination for the buses going forward.“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,” Mr. Abbott said.“In addition to Washington, D.C., 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,” he added.Mr. Abbott did not note how many passengers were on the first bus or their country of origin.Following Mr. Abbott’s statement, the New York City mayor’s press secretary, Fabien Levy, said the governor’s “continued use of human beings as political pawns is disgusting.” “NYC will continue to welcome asylum seekers w/ open arms, as we have always done, but we still need support from DC,” Mr. Levy said on Twitter.For months, Mr. Abbott and other Republican governors in states along the border have complained that the Biden administration policy of immediately releasing most asylum-seekers apprehended trying to cross the border illegally has overwhelmed their states.In June, border patrol reported nearly 192,000 apprehensions on the border, a number that was down slightly from the previous month’s tally of 222,000. So far this year, more than 1.7 million have been stopped and processed — a number that already exceeds last year’s record-setting rate. Many were released after processing by immigration authorities pending later court hearings.Earlier this year, Mr. Abbott and his counterpart in Arizona, Doug Ducey, began chartering buses at taxpayers’ expense to ferry some of those migrants to Washington D.C., where they have overwhelmed local homeless shelters and other social services. Since April, more than 6,000 have been sent to the nation’s capital from Texas and another 1,000 from Arizona.Last week, the mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, asked federal authorities to deploy the National Guard to help staff some of the shelters in her city. She said the immigration crisis is a “federal issue that demands a federal response.”On Friday, the Pentagon denied Ms. Bowser’s request.On Monday, Mr. Adams announced emergency action by the city to expand shelter services for asylum-seekers reaching the city. He said 4,000 asylum-seekers have entered the city’s shelters since May and that another 100 are arriving daily.““New York is a city of immigrants, and we will always welcome newcomers with open arms,” Mr. Adams said. “We are deeply committed to providing shelter and support to everyone who needs it, and we cannot do this work alone. We will continue to work with federal and state partners to procure additional financial resources immediately.” On the same day, Mr. Abbott sent a letter to the mayors of both Washington and New York inviting them to tour the border cities and see for themselves the “dire situation” in the area.“Your recent interest in this historic and preventable crisis is a welcome development — especially as the president and his administration have shown no remorse for their actions nor desire to address the situation themselves,” Mr. Abbott wrote.

New York Gets Influx of Asylum-Seekers Courtesy of the Texas Governor

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