Governor Greg Abbott and Mayor Eric Adams are having a feud, a war of words—and by extension so are the states of Texas and New York. The point of contention is the endless flow of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border into its neighboring states. Conservative states like Texas and Arizona, already opposed on principle to what they perceive to be an “open border” policy, are taking the liberal states at their word and sending their unwanted migrants to those who at least in theory, welcome them. So, Abbot has been shipping busloads of migrants to places like Washington D.C. and New York City, sanctuary cities that have an open arms policy. According to the Texas Tribune, “The policy is an expansion of the governor’s plan to antagonize President Joe Biden over border security”. More than just antagonizing Uncle Joe, it works as an illustration of the day-to-day reality of trying to accommodate—if not welcome–an endless flow of people.
The migrants on the buses that have become a news magnet in August–especially n conservative news outlets like Fox– are not the first that Governor Abbott or Arizona Governor Ducey have launched out to other states. Officials in New York have said that around 4,000 asylum seekers had arrived in the city in the past few months. Most of the buses from Texas and from Arizona had been going to Washington D.C.
Mayor Adams has frequently expressed the view that New York welcomes all, and more than once has invoked the words on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” Apparently, Greg Abbott decided to test the resolve of both Adams and Mayor Bowser of Washington D.C.
In what can only be interpreted as a taunt, Abbott stated that New York, like Washington D.C., is “the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,” adding, “I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.”
Previously, Abbott had written, “Adams talked the talk about being a sanctuary city — welcoming illegal immigrants into the Big Apple with warm hospitality. Talk is cheap. When pressed into fulfilling such ill-considered policies, he wants to condemn anyone who is pressing him to walk the walk.”
Mayor Bowser was quickly overwhelmed by the arrival of the first buses, to the point that she asked the Defense Department to send the National Guard in. A real crisis. Not surprisingly, the request has infuriated organizations that have long been assisting the migrants without any city or federal support.
Is Mayor Adams welcoming the “huddled masses”? Through his spokespeople, he has on numerous occasions excoriated Abbott’s move as “disgusting”, “cowardly” or “cruel”. Yet the arrival of the buses almost immediately caused a panic and he stated that while the city had a “legal and moral mandate to provide quality shelter to anyone experiencing homelessness, and to ensure we are providing appropriate services to asylum seekers” the influx led him to issue an “emergency procurement declaration.”
Already in July he demanded that the federal government help pay for what he said was “a wave of asylum seekers” pouring into the city, and claimed that the city’s safety net was being strained by the busloads of new arrivals.
There would appear to be a fair amount of hypocrisy on both sides of this ideological aisle. On one hand Adams lambasts Abbott: “I think that Gov. Abbott, what he’s doing is just so inhumane,” accusing the Texas governor of “putting them on a bus for the 44-hour ride, very few breaks, no food, no direction and clear information.”
On the other, Adams complains that “asylum seekers were overwhelming the city’s homeless shelters,” and calling for federal aid to provide services and shelter.
But aren’t Abbott ad Ducey the people who have confronted this problem for years now? And what about the residents of those border states that have had to face overcrowding and all the other conditions that such influxes of people bring to a community? Adams and Bowser don’t like it. Neither do Abbott and Ducey. There is almost a kind of poetic justice in the fact that now the people who claim to be welcoming are being put to the test.
And what about Catholic Charities, which works to help migrants, asylum seekers and refugees? They speak of frustration and call it a crisis. They too are calling out for help. “The magnitude of this situation which we are experiencing now requires broader than New York City, New York state,” Monsignor Kevin Sullivan said. “It requires the federal government’s response to this crisis.” Cardinal Dolan emphasized that the resources of Catholic Charities were strained and he didn’t know how much they would be able to help going forward.
In short, everyone claims to be humanitarians, but they’re passing the buck when it comes to concrete action. They all call it a crisis and everyone needs help from the federal government.
Abbott’s strategy, which aimed to “show public officials across the country… the magnitude of the chaos created by Biden’s open border policies” seems to be working. Regardless of whether you’re a liberal or a conservative and what kind of immigration policy looks good to you—locked gates or open arms–Abbott and Ducey have given other states a taste of what the crisis looks like on the ground.
