The Democrat-led city government of the border city of El Paso has followed the example set by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott by sending a bus full of migrants to New York City.
The move is a huge blow to President Joe Biden’s open border policy as Democrats in El Paso are joining with GOP leaders by sending illegal migrants to so-called “sanctuary” cities.
Leaders of the border city chartered a bus to send 35 Venezuelan migrants to NYC this week.
The move comes as the Democratic Party is slamming Governor Abbott for doing the same thing.
“It’s a journey that we never expected to experience,” Roxeli, a Venezuelan migrant, said.
“It was a rough environment.
“We had to cross oceans, rivers, jungles, countries where perhaps we weren’t welcome.
“For a better future for our children, we’re capable of getting anywhere.”
“OEM has sponsored and provided transportation services for migrants out of El Paso, which is reimbursable through the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said about the El Paso City-County Office of Emergency Management
“OEM has sponsored charter buses to include a recent transport to New York City, this was the preferred destination for those without any means to travel.”
According to The Texas Tribune:
Migrants who are released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — often because they have shown a credible fear of persecution in their home countries — are given hearing dates in immigration courts near their preferred destinations.
In El Paso, migrants released by ICE typically go to shelters in the Annunciation House network, where they stay two to three days while they arrange travel to reunite with family across the country.
Some migrants who can’t arrange transportation wind up unhoused in El Paso and other border cities because migrant shelters can’t provide shelter for more than a few days.
Unlike migrants from other countries, those from Venezuela often lack sponsor families in the United States ready to provide them with housing or assist with travel, Garcia of Annunciation House said.
That was the case with the group from El Paso this week.
El Paso joins Gov. Greg Abbott in busing migrants to New York City https://t.co/dTZP6zjO2m via @TexasTribune
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) August 28, 2022
As Slay News reported, Gov. Abbott issued a statement earlier that blasts President Biden for failing to tackle the issue:
“This is not a Texas problem; this is an American problem caused by the president,” Abbott said.
“We need more Americans to call on the president to uphold his oath of office and enforce the immigration laws of the United States.
“The only reason we have all these people coming across the border is because of President Biden’s open border policies.
“It was just two years ago we had record low numbers of people coming across the border illegally under President Trump because of the four policies he put in place that President Biden eliminated when he became president.
“We are a nation of laws.
“It’s time to start enforcing them. Doing that would restore the ‘humanity’ he is clamoring for.”
According to The New York Post:
The ongoing surge of migrants to the Big Apple has forced the city to strike emergency deals with 14 hotels because the shelter system is overloaded amid President Biden’s border crisis.
Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Manuel Castro revealed the eye-popping total during a news conference at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, where five buses arrived Thursday carrying migrants relocated by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — matching Wednesday’s record number of buses.
City Hall pressed the 14th hotel into service on Thursday, up from 11 about two weeks ago, an official familiar with the matter told The Post.
In another stunning acknowledgment of the city’s inability to deal with the situation, Castro said Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul have appealed to officials in other states for help housing migrants.
