A growing number of Democratic leaders are beginning to point a finger at the Biden administration and the federal government in general for failing to protect the border, thus ushering in an unsustainable wave of illegal immigration into communities across the nation.
In several deep-blue cities where undocumented migrants have been relocated after illegally crossing the border, however, Democratic mayors are also blaming border state Republicans — notably Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — for their efforts to deal with the unmitigated invasion.
Abbott has funded a wide-ranging program designed to address the issue, which has included sending a small portion of the immigrants who arrive in the state to other locations, including New York City and Chicago.
For his part, Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson recently denounced Abbott’s operation, which has involved the transportation of thousands of migrants from Texas to the Windy City.
Texas is explicitly attacking Democratic cities throughout the United States in retaliation to the end of Trump-era mandates that refused asylum seekers from the Carribean and South America.
Instead of communicating, they are crafting a humanitarian crisis. pic.twitter.com/H7gq3hGpEC
— Mayor Brandon Johnson (@ChicagosMayor) December 30, 2023
“We have infrastructure in our local communities that [is] not designed to carry such a burden,” Johnson complained during a recent CNN interview. “Local municipalities are not structured to be able to carry the weight of a crisis like this.”
He touted his own perceived accomplishments on the issue, including sending “a delegation to the border to see firsthand what our bordering cities are experiencing, because there is a financial responsibility that we have all taken on.”
Of course, Johnson clearly seemed reluctant to take on any of the burden resulting from a constant flow of undocumented migrants into border states like Texas, insisting that Abbott has been “governing out of fear” by sending some of those migrants elsewhere.
“What we need right now, we need sound minds, and that’s why I’m grateful for the leadership of [Democratic New York City] Mayor Eric Adams and the leadership of [Democratic Denver] Mayor Mike Johnston because we are working collectively together to be able to bring some structure around this crisis.”
The Texas governor, however, has repeatedly explained that there is no such structure available for his state, which has been on the frontline of the border crisis throughout the Biden administration.
Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris took exception to Johnson’s characterization, explaining: “Because Mayor Johnson is failing to live up to his city’s ‘Welcoming City’ ordinance by targeting migrant buses from Texas, we are expanding our operation to include flights to Chicago, like the Biden administration has been doing across the country. Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue taking historic action to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis.”
