Claiming that border communities in Texas have been “overwhelmed and overrun” by waves of illegal immigrants flooding in through the southern border with Mexico, on Thursday Governor Greg Abbott announced that he was adding Denver, Colorado, to the list of cities to which he’s been busing immigrants.
Since April of last year, Abbott has been shipping busloads of immigrants to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. None of those cities has been pleased with the influx of immigrants, even though all of them, including Denver, have declared themselves “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants.
“Texas’ overwhelmed and overrun border communities should not have to shoulder the flood of illegal immigration due to President Biden’s reckless open border policies, like his mass catch and release without court dates or any way to track them,” Abbott said in a statement on Thursday. “Until the President and his Administration step up and fulfill their constitutional duty to secure the border, the State of Texas will continue busing migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities like Denver to provide much-needed relief to our small border towns.”
The first bus relocated just 41 illegal immigrants to Denver. Despite the Mile High City’s sanctuary city status, the city’s mayor called the bus arrival “partisan gamesmanship.”
“What is happening at the border, and what is showing up at the doorsteps of cities across the country, is a humanitarian crisis,” said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, a Democrat. “What none of us need is more political theater and partisan gamesmanship pitting jurisdictions against each other and exacerbating this situation instead of advocating for real solutions to this challenge.”
The 41 illegal immigrants are being housed temporarily and Denver doesn’t seem to be overwhelmed by the situation, but that hasn’t stopped them from begging for resources to deal with the minor inconvenience.
“Our resources are not infinite, and so we do need support from nonprofit partners in the city,” said Jill Lis of the city’s Emergency Operations Center. Lis estimates that, including the recent busload, Denver has taken in approximately 10,000 illegal immigrants during the border crisis that mainstream media claims isn’t real.
The Denver mayor also pleaded for federal help to address the situation: “Denver cannot continue to financially shoulder the burden of this humanitarian crisis alone,” Hancock tweeted. “Our residents shouldn’t lose the services and resources they depend on and pay for with their tax dollars because Congress and the Federal Government are failing to do their job.”
Hancock accused Abbott of using the crisis at the border to create “political theater.”
“It’s nothing more than political theater,” Hancock told reporters. “Buffoonery is what it is, and it’s really a very insensitive disingenuous act from someone who claims to be a servant of the people, and he really isn’t.”
Hancock threatened to send Abbott a bill for the services Denver must provide.
“If Gov. Abbott thinks he’s going to win over allies to his cause here in Denver with this latest stunt, he’s going to be sorely mistaken,” Hancock chided. “But we’re more than happy to send him the bill for additional support we’re to [sic] providing now because of his failure to manage his own state.”
“Political theater” or not, Abbott is making a valid point about illegal immigration. When cities who proclaim themselves “sanctuary cities” are asked to serve as such, they don’t simply roll up their sleeves and take illegals in, they cry havoc.
When these cities refer to themselves as “sanctuaries” for illegal migrants, they should be expected to act the part. Instead, their attitude, whether it’s Denver, New York, Washington, D.C., or Martha’s Vineyard, left-wing “sanctuary cities” seem to be the embodiment of NIMBY (not in my back yard) when the rubber meets the road.
To learn more about the immigration crisis and what can be done about it, click here.
