Texas Governor Greg Abbott appears set for a huge victory on the border crisis, as President Joe Biden and Washington Democrats look likely to cave on Republican demands for a crackdown on migrants.
The Republican posted to X on Tuesday, announcing the success of his program to bus illegal migrants to Democrat-led cities.
He said his initiative has amounted to the transfer of nearly 100,000 migrants to cities such as New York, Boston, Denver, and Chicago – where leaders are being forced to find accommodation for them.
Those Democrat-led areas bill themselves as ‘sanctuary cities’ that welcome migrants.
But the New York Times reported that their mayors are so perturbed by the migrant crisis, they’ve been pleading with the White House for help – with the president likely to offer Republicans previously-unthinkable concessions on migration laws.
What Republicans appear to be targeting is what’s known as a ‘credible fear interview.
That is an early hurdle for prospective asylum seekers that, if the likes of Abbott get their way, would have them sent back home much earlier in the migration process, according to the New York Times.
The White House and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is also considering rules that would allow faster deportations of illegal migrants, considered a pipe dream at the beginning of the Biden administration.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott appears set for a huge victory on the border crisis, as President Joe Biden and Washington Democrats appear set to cave on Republican demands for a crackdown on migrants
Republicans are demanding severe asylum restrictions and tying it to military funding for Ukraine and Israel – two huge Biden priorities in an election year – in order to extract concessions from Democrats.
Lawmakers in both parties, including those liberal mayors of large cities that face crises of their own, have called for more border funding.
Abbott, upon sending the 95,000 migrants to New York, Boston, Denver, and Chicago, said that the problem is so extreme that there’s still more to come.
‘Sanctuary cities like NYC & Chicago have seen only a FRACTION of what overwhelmed Texas border towns face daily,’ wrote Abbott.
‘We will continue our transportation mission until Biden reverses course on his open border policies.’
Last fiscal year, the Biden presidency saw the single highest number of encounters at the border on record.
At least 2.4million migrants streamed across the US’ southern border in fiscal 2023, and that figure just represents the encounters border patrol agents had – there are plenty of illegal crossers who did not come into contact with DHS officers.
While some liberals and big city mayors have decried Abbott as pulling a political stunt, it appears set to pay off, with President Joe Biden set to consider negotiating a more conservative-friendly policy at the border in Texas
Migrants pick up blankets near a Migrant Assistance Center at St. Brigid Elementary School in New York City
That 2.4million figure breaks down to an average of about 6,575 encounters per day, which means it would take just over two full weeks for 95,000 illegal crossers to enter the US.
And many more make it across the border without ever being intercepted.
It comes as the GOP in Washington is having it’s own push on private companies toward doing something about the problem.
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz has written to Delta Airlines demanding an investigation into claims migrants are being flown from the southern border into the US aboard their flights.
The Florida representative penned an open letter to CEO Ed Bastion on Friday seeking answers about how ‘non-resident aliens’ are able to ‘book and travel’ on Delta flights.
He stated that NGOs are using federal money to purchase flights for migrants who may not have passed verification checks, posing a security risk.
‘Even more alarming than American taxpayers footing the bill for non-resident aliens to be transported into our communities is that they may not be properly vetted,’ Gaetz wrote.
‘I am concerned the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may be allowing non-resident aliens to board flights, including those operated by Delta Airlines, with an alternate form of identification that meets a weaker standard than that used to verify the identities of American citizens.’
Gaetz posed four questions of ‘utmost importance and great concern’ that he is seeking immediate answers for, including how many migrants have been transported and how the airline is paid for their tickets.
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz is demanding answers from Delta Airlines over its alleged policy of flying illegal migrants into the US
His request came after a Delta passenger and right-wing commentator claimed she had seen migrants being flown from Arizona to New York on the same flight as her
He also asked if there is any incentive for the airline to transport the migrants and what forms of ID are being accepted.
Despite the seemingly high figure being touted by Abbott, it represents just a small fraction of the total number of unvetted foreigners coming into the US annually.
Even some of the Democratic mayors are reckoning with the fact that their cities are not equipped to stomach such a significant onslaught of migrants.
In New York City in particular, Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly asked Abbott to stop shipping the migrants to the Big Apple, where locals in midtown have been horrified for close to a year at the numbers of migrants being semi-housed in formerly expensive cosmopolitan hotels.
Adams announced Thursday that he is suing 17 charter bus companies in Texas for $708 million in an effort to stop the state’s Governor Greg Abbott from bussing the migrants into New York from the Lone Star state.
Adams is seeking millions for the resources New York City has expended to provide shelter and services to thousands of asylum seekers, putting a strain on the the city’s schools, shelter system and budget over the last 18 months.
City officials allege that the Texas governor has transported more than 33,000 migrants from his city to the Big Apple since spring 2022 when the migrant crisis first began.
Adams’ office stated the bus charter actions were a violation of New York’s Social Services Law, CBS News reported.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced on Thursday that he is suing 17 charter bus companies in Texas for $708 million in an effort to stop Texas Governor Greg Abbott from bussing migrants to New York from the Lone Star state
Dozens of migrants line up waiting to board a charter bus at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas
‘New York City has and will always do our part to manage this humanitarian crisis, but we cannot bear the costs of reckless political ploys from the state of Texas alone,’ Adams said.
‘Today’s lawsuit should serve as a warning to all those who break the law in this way.’
‘Texas Governor Abbott’s continued use of migrants as political pawns is not only chaotic and inhumane but makes clear he puts politics over people,’ the mayor continued.
In a statement, Abbott responded to the suit furiously and said the mayor may see legal consequences of his own.
‘This lawsuit is baseless and deserves to be sanctioned. It’s clear that Mayor Adams knows nothing about the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, or about the constitutional right to travel that has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court,’ he wrote.
‘Every migrant bused or flown to New York City did so voluntarily, after having been authorized by the Biden Administration to remain in the United States. As such, they have constitutional authority to travel across the country that Mayor Adams is interfering with. If the Mayor persists in this lawsuit, he may be held legally accountable for his violations.’
Adams was shown support by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who also accused Abbott of using ‘human beings as political pawns’ in a separate statement.
‘It’s about time that the companies facilitating his actions take responsibility for their role in this ongoing crisis.’
Twenty-two-year-old Maria Silva (center), of Venezuela, carries her belongings to a bus outside the 6th District police station before being taken to a shelter with other migrants who had been staying at the station Wednesday Dec. 13, 2023 in Chicago
Migrants after being processed in El Paso, Texas are loaded on to buses and shipped off to Denver, Colorado
‘We’re getting close to anywhere from 2,500 to peaking at 4,000 a week,’ Adams said Tuesday in an interview, during which he also proclaimed in no uncertain terms that NYC in ‘out of room’ for the incoming migrants.
‘We were not just saying we’re out of room as a soundbite,’ Adams answered, citing the more than 161,000 migrants whom have arrived and sought city aid since spring 2022.
‘We’re out of room, literally’, the Democrat declared.
‘People are going to be eventually sleeping on the streets.’
Fox 5’s longtime anchor Rosanna Scotto asked Adams what exactly it would take, ass chief executive of the city, for him to ‘close the front door’ to more migrants.
Adams replied that he simply could not, due to laws that prohibit both state and local officers from enforcing federal immigration laws.
‘I don’t have the authorization to tell people that they can’t come into New York City,’ Adams explained.
When Scotto asked him why not, he replied, a little irate: ‘It’s against the law.’
Migrants in El Paso standing outside a church for food and anyone who would give them a ride
Migrants, including women and children, prepare to cross the Rio Grande to reach the United States border to seek humanitarian asylum in Ciudad Juarez
Adams is seeking millions for the resources New York City has expended to provide shelter and services to thousands of asylum seekers, putting a strain on the the city’s schools, shelter system and budget over the last 18 months
He added that he does not think NYC is currently enforcing its ‘sanctuary’ status the way it was originally intended to be used, but his hands are legally tied.
‘We cannot by law tell someone if they come into the city, you cannot come into the city,’ he said. ‘We can’t even turn them over to ICE.’
During Adams’ progressive predecessor, Bill De Blasio’s, tenure in office, the former mayor signed a number of laws that dramatically reduced the city’s cooperation with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.