NYC mayor at odds with the White House on migrant crisis
WASHINGTON (TND) — The much-talked about end of Title 42, a controversial immigration law allowing quick expulsion of immigrants based on COVID concerns, has come and gone.
While the immediate impact isn’t as severe as some warned, others say the problem is now hitting home in cities across America.
So, why are Democrats are now joining Republicans in insisting President Joe Biden must do more to find a solution?
The shouts in one New York neighborhood told the story.
“You’re not going to do this to us. You picked the wrong neighborhood and the wrong school!” one man yelled in a bullhorn.
“Let us play, let us play,” chanted children and their parents walking down city sidewalks and holding signs.
Students and parents in New York this week have been protesting their school gymnasium being used as a shelter for migrants, many of them sent to the city from Texas.
"We have a crisis that's been brought to our country, our state, our city and now it’s in our schools. How soon until it is in our homes?! Their children deserve better," one demonstrator told the media.
Mayor Eric Adams, a staunch Biden supporter, is now also a critic.
He was asked in a recent interview: “Where the heck is the president of the United States?” Adams replied, “That is a good question. No city should be carrying this problem. This is a national problem and there should be a national solution.”
There were more signs of divided Democrats.
“You know the White House and the governmental relations office, what the hell are they doing?” asked longtime Democratic strategist James Carville. “This could have been addressed a long time ago. I don’t know how it got to this point where you have the mayor of the largest city in the country, in a kind of public spat with his brother Democrat who is president of the United States.”
Adams was sending the overflow to other parts of the state but that led to complaints and a judge ended the practice.
Since last spring, New York City has reportedly processed more than 65,000 migrants. From Denver to Washington D.C., mayors are asking for more help.
Some are now requesting a meeting with Biden, who says the post-Title 42 surges didn’t match many fears.
“They have gone down. My hope is they'll continue to go down but we've got a lot more work to do and we need some more help from Congress as well in terms of funding and legislative changes," Biden said over the weekend.
Republicans are calling for more resources to help process people and remove them from the country if they are not legally allowed to stay.
“I think the biggest issue is getting (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) involved. ICE has to be able to expedite these folks. And I’m advocating, don’t send them to D.C. or San Francisco or even the vice president's front door. As fun as that is, you send them back to their country of origin," said Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he will send roughly 1,000 National Guard soldiers and police officers to Texas, along with drones, boats and planes to help control the influx.
Many Democrats are admitting the system is broken but say Republicans have to share some of the blame and have had multiple opportunities to come to the table and pass comprehensive reforms.
