The screams of border communities and states fell on deaf federal ears until Joe Biden made his first visit to the border at the midpoint of his presidency. Biden visited ports of entry but did not visit the issue regions between the ports, resulting in criticism.
Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott met Vice President Joe Biden at the airport in El Paso on the president’s first visit to the border. Abbott presented Biden with a letter outlining a series of initiatives to be taken to alleviate the current issue. Notably, the Democratic government of the city cleared up many migrant encampments prior to Biden’s visit, according to Conservative Brief.
Abbott wasted no time seizing the chance when he and the president met on the tarmac after almost two years of trying to convince the president to reverse course on policies and reinstate at least part of what previous President Donald Trump implemented during his reign. Abbott’s letter to Biden started, “Your visit to our southern border with Mexico today is $20 billion too little and two years too late.” “Additionally, your tour skips the places where major illegal immigration happens and the thousands of outraged Texas property owners whose lives have been ruined by your border policies.
“Even the city you visit has been sanitized of the migrant camps which had overrun downtown El Paso because your Administration wants to shield you from the chaos that Texans experience on a daily basis,” the letter continued. “This chaos is the direct result of your failure to enforce the immigration laws that Congress enacted.”
Apparently, Biden’s visit sparked a visit from the mayor of New York, who has referred to his city as a “sanctuary city” and claimed to welcome illegal immigrants. After spending the weekend in El Paso, Texas, the Democratic mayor is now urging the Biden administration to adopt a firmer position at the U.S.-Mexico border to stem an unprecedented influx of migrants entering the country.
The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, has urged President Joe Biden and his administration to do more to alleviate the issue, since communities further north of the border, such as his, are getting overrun by migrants, many of whom are being directed there by governors of other states. Adams was in El Paso to meet with their colleagues and do a personal assessment of the situation.
Fox News reported:
“The trip comes after the mayor said on Friday that the Big Apple is at its “breaking point” as record numbers of migrants continue to arrive. Adams submitted an emergency mutual aid request to New York state for immediate help this weekend to shelter the asylum seekers.
That announcement came after the city reportedly received more than 3,100 asylum seekers in the past week – with more than 800 arriving last Thursday alone.
Speaking at a Sunday afternoon press conference alongside El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser, Adams said New York City wasn’t pointing at any border city in particular for exacerbating the problem. “We’re pointing the finger … at our national government,” Adams said.
“This is a national problem. We must have real immigration reform, and we must immediately have a short-term fix of making sure that the cost of this does not fall on our local cities.”