Democratic Mayors Muriel Bowser of Washington, DC and Eric Adams of New York City now see how the current, record border crossings are a burden on city resources and homeless shelters. They are pleading to the Biden administration for help.
The mayors' pleas to the White House come after they have condemned Republican Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona for giving bus trips from their border states to DC and New York City.
However, while denouncing the governors' actions, Bowser and Adams seem more in agreement with Abbott and Ducey in insisting that the Biden administration be held responsible.
Governors Abbott and Ducey have long criticized the Biden administration for not addressing the "humanitarian crisis" by securing the border. In their April Washington Post column "The border crisis in our states was created by the Biden administration" they wrote:
The administration's policies and communications have encouraged thousands of people to make dangerous trips to our southern border. This has caused a humanitarian crisis that is endangering the lives and welfare of U.S. citizens, as well as those attempting to come here."
Mayor Bowser also sees the border crossings as a "humanitarian crisis" that will only escalate and worsen as she seeks National Guard assistance along with other help. She said at a recent press conference:
We continue to be very focused on having the federal government do its part and take the lead in addressing what we see as a growing humanitarian crisis with people who are seeking asylum."
Mayor Adams too is ramping up requests to the Biden administration for "money, technical assistance and more." He said also at a recent news conference:
Right now we are at a state where we must get the assistance from the federal government."
The mayors' pleas to the Biden administration for needed assistance are more than politically inconvenient for them.
Some accuse the mayors of hypocrisy, lambasting them for decrying the arrival of border crossers while declaring their cities immigration sanctuaries.
At the same time, others attack the mayors for publicly highlighting the strains on their communities rather than appearing more welcoming.
Politics aside, the impacts of the border crisis on communities are substantial. In my previous blog, I wrote about how record border crossings are overwhelming nonprofit and city housing and shelter resources.
Mayor Bowser elaborates on this point. As written in a Politico article published earlier this month regarding a letter she sent to the Biden administration:
"This reliance on NGOs is not working and is unsustainable — they are overwhelmed and underfunded," Bowser said in her letter. She has repeatedly stated that the influx was stressing her government's ability to care for its own homeless residents and required intervention from Biden's government.
Adams has also stressed how the migrants are overwhelming New York City's housing and public resources:
You know, Pampers cost money ... Right now, we're using our emergency funds, but we also got to deal with some medical issues. There are some real medical issues that we need, and then education. ... These young people are going to have to find housing and education. We got to place them in schools. Translation services. And so, we are working out the numbers and we're going to sit down with FEMA and state that we need help to stabilize what we're doing."
The busloads from the border to Washington, DC and New York City have made the border crisis more immediate to these cities.
But the spread of the overwhelming border crisis throughout the United States has been inevitable given the record numbers the U.S. has been experiencing.
The Biden administration developed its own plans to disperse migrants to other cities in order to divert attention from the dire situation at the border.
The Biden administration denied Mayor Bowser's initial request for National Guard and other assistance. She has since filed a new request.
LISA IRVING is a Content Writer for NumbersUSA's Media Standards Project
