Senate Democrats eye new money to help cities deal with migrants bused in from Texas

Two prominent Democrats have asked colleagues to pony up more taxpayer money to welcome illegal immigrants to the U.S., saying Texas’s effort to bus migrants deep into the interior is putting a strain on blue states.

President Biden already requested an infusion of cash for the care of illegal immigrants in an upcoming spending bill, but Sens. Richard Durbin and Alex Padilla said it’s not enough, given the chaos of the border and the effort by border states to share the pain with everyone else.

“Communities and organizations are on the front lines of assisting migrants coming to our border and resources are being stretched thin as they take on the role of performing a federal government function. This funding is vitally important as more cities in the United States receive refugees and asylum seekers,” the senators said.

The senators requested the money just hours after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed on Thursday that he was flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his state had dropped off busloads of migrants outside Vice President Kamala Harris’s official residence in Washington.

The looming spending bill, which is known as a continuing resolution or CR, is shaping up as the next major test on immigration politics.

Mr. Biden requested new money to care for the surge of illegal border jumpers but did not specifically request any new money to deter them from coming in the first place.

The immigration money would be part of a broader bill to keep the government operating into fiscal year 2023, which begins Oct. 1.

Congress has not yet approved any of the dozen annual spending bills, and without new funding, the government will shut down. Lawmakers are working on the CR, which would keep the government running at current levels into the new fiscal year.

Prospects for a bill are already murky thanks to a dispute between Senate Democrats, who have promised new language to overhaul permitting for energy projects and House Democrats who have warned they may not accept those provisions.