Slowly but surely, red state governors like Texas’ Greg Abbott and Florida’s Ron DeSantis have been winning the war against the Biden administration’s open border policies.
It all started last year when Abbott decided that if places like New York City wanted to deem themselves “sanctuary cities” for illegal migrants, then maybe the state of Texas should start sending migrants there free of charge. The result has been abject chaos in NYC which, unlike border states and towns, isn’t used to handling influxes of hundreds of people needing immediate assistance.
Who can also forget when DeSantis sent 50 illegal migrants to the wealthy left-wing enclave of Martha’s Vineyard? The small billionaire playground island, sporting vacation homes for the likes of Oprah Winfrey, is a self-declared “open community.” So open, in fact, that it immediately closed up shop and deported them all to nearby Cape Cod a day later.
There was also the time Abbott sent a busload of migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence inside Washington, D.C. to make a point directed specifically at the Biden administration and force them to answer for their open border policies.
The issue got so bad in NYC, however, that an agreement was reached to start bussing illegals out to the western part of the state. The end result of that deal was two sexual assaults and local officials near Buffalo now reversing course and demanding a halt to the arrangement.
Now, it’s New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s turn to reverse his previous open border position and make it clear that his state cannot accept migrants overflowing from neighboring New York, as Politico reports:
Gov. Phil Murphy suggested Thursday that New Jersey does not have the resources to take an influx of migrants from New York City at the direction of the Biden administration.
The comments by the Democratic governor — who once said New Jersey would become a “sanctuary” state for immigrants on his watch — comes as the Biden administration reportedly is considering relocating migrants in New York City to the Atlantic City International Airport. The airport is one of 11 federal sites that the Biden administration has sent to the New York City Mayor’s Office that are under consideration.
“I don’t see any scenario where we’re going to be able to take in a program in Atlantic City or frankly elsewhere in the state,” Murphy said on News 12 New Jersey’s “Ask Governor Murphy.”
“You need scale, enormous amount of federal support, resources that go beyond anything that we can afford,” he said. “Putting everything else aside, I just don’t see it. I would suspect that that will continue to be the case.”
Murphy added that his office has not heard about the matter from federal officials or the White House, but that the state has “already seen folks” who are “probably coming from New York or other locations.”
Murphy, a tried and true progressive Democrat, is now being acquainted with the reality of open borders. Where do people like Murphy expect that illegal migrants crossing the border will end up? Most of them come here with nothing but the clothes on their backs and will require immediate needs such as housing and food, something that states and cities are already strapped to provide in Biden’s failed economy.
It’s as if all these blue states and Democrat-run cities enjoyed declaring themselves sanctuary cities knowing full well they weren’t near the border and wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences.
Gov. Abbott recently laid out the list of cities where his state has sent illegal migrants:
Texas has bused over 35,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities.
Over 11,300 to DC
Over 13,300 to NYC
Over 6,700 to Chicago
Over 2,600 to Philadelphia
Over 1,000 to Denver
Over 480 to LA
With the recent problems spilling into New Jersey via New York, Gov. Murphy is now speaking in favor of stronger border security, a stunning reversal of his previous open borders support:
Local officials have also vowed to prevent migrants being sent to the area from the Biden administration.
“All I can say is that I will do my best to prevent this from happening,” longtime Republican Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said in an interview. “We can’t afford it. We’re a poor county. We’re one of the poorest counties in New Jersey. It’s not a burden I can put on our taxpayers.”
Murphy said that the country should “responsibly and humanely secure our borders,” provide a pathway to status for millions of undocumented people in America and overhaul the country’s legal immigration visa process, especially in a way that can help mitigate worker shortages.
In other words, build the wall and build it now.
Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 partly on a simple notion that America needs a strong and sovereign southern border. It’s not difficult to understand. It’s also not difficult to understand that when low-skilled migrants arrive over the Rio Grande, they often take menial jobs and end up lowering wages for Americans working in similar positions. They’re a drain on local social services as well since they need access to health care, housing, food, and education.
America, the most generous nation on the planet, does a lot for countries and refugees all over the world but you can’t bleed a stone that’s trillions in debt and dealing with its own domestic problems already.
Little by little, Democrats have peeled away from the Biden administration on this issue once they see firsthand what it’s like to try and take care of newly arrived illegal migrants needing immediate care and attention.
New Jersey, welcome to the club!
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