Washington D.C. Mayor Bowser mentioned Sunday on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” that her city is being overwhelmed by migrants being bussed to her city and called on the federal government to provide more resources to accommodate that, as RedState’s Nick Arama reported.
“This is a very significant issue. The federal government has been asked to collaborate across borders to ensure that people are not tricked into boarding buses. We think they’re largely asylum-seekers or going to final destinations that are not Washington, D.C.,” Bowser told CBS News.
“But I fear that they’re being tricked into nationwide bus trips when their final destinations are places all over the United States,” she added.
On Tuesday, the subject was brought up again when Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary, dismissed border communities as she asked her about immigrants being bused to New York from Arizona and Texas.
At Tuesday’s press conference, ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers asked Jean-Pierre:
New York City’s mayor and D.C. Mayor are asking for federal assistance to help asylum seekers being transported from Arizona and Texas to these cities. They’ve had thousands of people arriving over the past couple of week.
Mayor Bowser here in DC said that these people are being “tricked.” What federal resources is the White House preparing, if any, to deliver to these cities and other cities that are now dealing with an increase in asylum seekers?
Jean-Pierre then redirected the reporter to Federal Emergency Management Agency and said that the White House has been in touch with both mayors’ offices.
But Travers’ follow-up is where her reply raises eyebrows.
“Has the White House reached out to the governors of these states and said, ‘Don’t send these people to these cities on the East Coast?’”
The press secretary said that they have not directly addressed the strategy with the governors recently, but once Travers asked if the administration had a message for them, Jean-Pierre said that she thinks it’s “shameful that some governors are using migrants as a political tool.”
Arizona and Texas are currently dealing with the majority of the border crisis. Arizona decided to move some migrants to their cities, in an effort to alleviate some of the pressures placed on them by the government, while also starting a national discussion on border security.
First, resources should be given to the border communities which have been affected by the large influx of refugees for several months. There is a humanitarian crisis at the southern border, so it’s not the worst idea to send asylum seekers to two of the largest cities in the nation to start their future in the United States. While people are entitled to their own opinions about the intentions behind bussing migrants, it’s out of touch for anybody to suggest that these East Coast cities have an urgent need for federal resources when compared to the Southwest.
In addition, it’s rather concerning that when the U.S. is supposed to be welcoming asylum seekers with open arms that the White House is acting rather cold toward them. Although Jean-Pierre did mention that the government should be doing “everything [they] can” to “help” those wishing to be granted asylum, they’re already showing them a lack of compassion by having a disorganized mess at the border.
The aforementioned Bowser should get the ball rolling on getting Democrats nationwide on the importance of border security and making the immigration process more clear-cut, so it’s more than just Republicans and a small handful of Southwestern Democrats like Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema raising awareness.
Arizona and Texas matter as much or more than New York and Washington.
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