The Democratic mayors of New York and Chicago lashed out over a resurgence of migrants expected along the U.S. southern border in coming weeks, pleading with Texas not to ship any more of them to their cities.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said the migrant crisis is “more than one city can handle.” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said her city’s shelters have run out of room to house the arrivals.
They spoke up after reports that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will restart his busing campaign that sent thousands of migrants from his state to Democratic-run cities over the last year. The reported targets for the revived busing campaign would be Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York and Washington.
Mr. Adams suggested there was racism at work behind the cities on the GOP governor’s list.
“Not only is this behavior morally bankrupt and devoid of any concern for the well-being of asylum seekers, but it is also impossible to ignore the fact that Abbott is now targeting five cities run by Black mayors. Put plainly, Abbott is using this crisis to hurt Black-run cities,” he said.
Mr. Adams said New York will do what it can to care for migrants that arrive, but said his city is struggling.
SEE ALSO: Carrot-and-stick: Feds announce plan to head off looming surge of illegal immigrants
“With a vacuum of leadership from border states, we need the federal government to step in and provide us with support and to prevent this cruelty from continuing,” he said.
Ms. Lightfoot, meanwhile, posted on Twitter that her city can’t handle more.
“We simply have no more shelters, spaces or resources to accommodate an increase of individuals at this level, with little coordination or care, that does not pose a risk to them or others,” said the mayor, who won office four years ago on promises of being a “sanctuary city.”
Ms. Lightfoot lost her reelection bid earlier this year. Democrat Brandon Johnson, who is also Black, is set to take office May 15.
Mr. Abbott’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on his plans. His backers contend that the busing campaign moves migrants who want to leave the state and are already heading in the direction of the sanctuary cities.
If true, that suggests that New York, Chicago and the rest will see the same number of people regardless of the busing. The only difference is timing.
The cities, though, contend that Texas has duped migrants into boarding the buses.
The border situation cooled slightly earlier this year, with immigrant encounters dropping from the very high levels after the Biden administration announced a plan to try to divert some of the migrants from entering the country illegally. Texas saw its numbers if illegal crossers drop significantly.
But the state is preparing for a surge on May 11, when the Title 42 pandemic emergency expires and Homeland Security will lose its power to quickly expel the immigrants.
The change is expected to incentivize a new surge of people looking to take advantage of the Biden administration’s less stringent approach to immigration enforcement.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.