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Washington D.C. Mayor, Muriel Bowser, has declared a public emergency in her city after buses of migrants sent from the southern border pour into the nation’s capital.
She said, “We’re putting in place a framework that would allow us to have a coordinated response with our partners. This will include a program to meet all buses, and given that most people will move on, our primary focus is to make sure we have a humane, efficient, welcome process that will allow people to move on to their final destination.”
She even called out the Biden Administration for their lack of action.
“Regardless of the federal response — which I think has been lacking in some respects — that the District of Columbia would continue to work with partners to advance what we need and ensure our systems in D.C. are not broken by a crisis that is certainly not of our making.”
These statements come after Texas Governor Greg Abbott started busing illegal immigrants to New York City, Washington D.C., and Chicago. Abbott started this in April of this year.
Greg Abbott wrote in an op-ed, “Texas has been left to fend for itself. It’s the only state in history to build its own border wall. I have deployed the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to repel and arrest illegal immigrants and to seize weapons and deadly drugs like fentanyl that pour across our border.”
Axios reported:
Bowser’s declaration comes with a $10 million investment in a new D.C. Office of Migrant Services. The local department will help nonprofits and other groups that are straining to welcome and help the migrants arriving at Union Station, where city officials hope to have a 24/7 presence soon.
What they’re saying: Bowser called the Republican governor’s actions a “stunt,” and also criticized the Biden administration for not offering more support. The federal government has rejected the mayor’s requests for the National Guard to be deployed to assist.
She added she is “very disappointed in not having a federal site” to house and process the migrants.
By the numbers: There are 94 families and 348 people in total staying at D.C. hotels, Bowser said Thursday.
Bowser’s emergency declaration comes two weeks after the Department of Defense rejected her second request to bring in the National Guard to help with the influx of migrants to the city.
Her request was rejected in part because the city already had enough funding from FEMA that could be used to shelter the immigrants and give them necessary resources.
The bussing is a new part of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, a push by the Governor to try and slow the number of crossings at the Texas Border.
In June of this year, there were over 200,000 border crossings, as shared by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
