Migrants have overwhelmed cities
Migrants coming to the US have overwhelmed cities, including Chicago, New York and El Paso.
Former President Donald Trump said that if re-elected, he would “immediately” invoke a federal law, the Alien Enemies Act, granting himself the unilateral power to detain and deport non-citizens from the United States. If so, could such an action trigger a civil war?
Terry Collins, USA TODAY • September 26, 2023
Excerpts
From Staten Island to Chicago to San Diego and other points in between, Americans are getting frustrated with migrants arriving in their neighborhoods with few shelter and assistance options for them. Many said they want the federal government and local officials to do more to provide help to those who need it and find a better solution for future migrants hoping to enter the US.
The concern has been building, with the US seeing high levels of illegal crossings in recent years after the COVID-19 pandemic kept many migrants from entering the country in 2020. The latest wave of migrants means more people arriving in cities across the US, looking for a place to sleep at bus stops, outside airports and city halls.
“It’s wildly frustrating,” said Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez, noting that Chicago has received more than 13,000 migrant asylum seekers, and counting, since August 2022. “There seems to be no end in sight.”
In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams has said the large influx of migrants since 2022, more than 110,000 and counting arriving from the US-Mexico border, will “destroy” his city. With more than 60,000 migrants still in the city’s care, according to the Department of Social Services, Adams blames a lack of federal aid and Republican Govs. Greg Abbott in Texas and Ron DeSantis in Florida, who’s also a GOP presidential candidate, for sending asylum seekers to northern states in recent months and causing a crisis.
“It’s not just New York going through this,” said Desmond. “It’s chaos the way the federal government is just dropping off thousands of people in this county that is getting no coordinated help or aid.
“This is not just a Democrat issue, not just a Republican issue,” Desmond said. “This is a national issue.”
Lopez, the Chicago alderman, a Democrat, also wants to see fewer migrants arriving in his community. “Every week, the city of Chicago sees new arrivals by bus or by plane, it’s a slow and steady march with no real action from Washington,” Lopez said.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said it would grant Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans in the US as of July 31 to help ease a path to work authorization. That move is in addition to nearly 243,000 Venezuelans already qualified for the temporary status.
But that may do little help in Eagle Pass, Texas, where Mayor Rolando Salinas said about 2,000 migrants had crossed the border Thursday after officials shut down one of the city’s two international bridges to reroute agents elsewhere. About 9,000 asylum-seekers have crossed from Mexico within the last week.
The bridge shutdown in Eagle Pass came after the city declared an emergency declaration Tuesday because of a “severe undocumented immigrant surge.” The mayor said the order was issued to give the town “the ability to request financial resources to provide the additional services caused by the influx of the undocumented immigrants,” Salinas said in a press release.
The following day, Abbott, the Texas governor, declared an “invasion” at the state’s border with Mexico.
Salinas said he fears more large migrant groups were going to arrive over the weekend. On Thursday, the Eagle Pass mayor told CNN that Biden should take some blame for the surge of migrants into his town.
“I will be honest with you. I believe 100% he does bear some responsibility for this crisis,” Salinas said. “I haven’t heard from anybody in the administration. The president hasn’t put out a statement, the vice president, I haven’t heard from anybody.”
Meanwhile in El Paso, Texas, about seven hours to the east of Eagle Pass, the city is entering its “fourth wave” of migrant surges since 2018, according to Laura Cruz-Acosta, an El Paso city spokeswoman.
The city has received more than 1,800 migrants a day crossing the border in the past week, the first major surge since the expiration in May of Title 42, a COVID-19 pandemic policy that allowed the US to cite fears of spreading the virus as a reason to expel migrants.
“It’s putting a strain on our city,” Acosta-Cruz said. “It is concerning that we’re seeing this ramp up very quickly.”
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser told reporters on Saturday “We have come to what we look at (as) a breaking point right now.”
Acosta-Cruz said what’s occurring in El Paso mirrors other border cities. Arrests at the US-Mexico border increased in July and August after an initial sharp decline in May and June after the Biden administration launched a new policy requiring migrants heading to the US border to first seek protection in Mexico. Biden adopted the rule after Title 42’s expiration.
But many migrants, many arriving from Venezuela, aren’t waiting for various reasons. “The type of migrant we see now are those who are leaving their communities they call home for humanitarian reasons, because of violence, poverty, political reasons economic and to try escaping human trafficking,” Acosta-Cruz said.
Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens told ABC News in an interview that aired Sunday the Mexican drug cartels are flooding the US border with illegal immigrants in part as a distraction so they can smuggle drugs, criminals and weapons into the country.
“In terms of flow and the threats that we’re seeing with fentanyl and with the criminal organizations that are our adversary, it’s about as bad as I’ve ever seen it,” Owens said. “This isn’t sustainable. This is up-and-down the system, everybody is overwhelmed. Even the government of Mexico, which have been great partners for us, the US Border Patrol, a lot of times our facilities are already over capacity.”
On Friday, Mexican officials pledged to set up checkpoints to “depressurize” migrants from hopping freight trains from its northern cities which border El Paso, San Diego and Eagle Pass.
Acosta-Cruz, the El Paso city official, adds from what she’s seen, a lot of migrants are being “misled by the cartels so really it’s a lot of misinformation being shared with the migrants. They have this understanding they can just come in and flow through, but that’s not the case.”
There are currently about 1,000 migrants in nine hotels around town, with a recreation center ready to use, Acosta-Cruz said. Because El Paso handles its fair share of migrants, some of whom stay anywhere from 24- to 72 hours before moving on, the city and El Paso County receive FEMA funding and work collaboratively with nonprofits, churches and other local businesses to handle matters.
Former President Donald Trump said that if re-elected, he would “immediately” invoke a federal law, the Alien Enemies Act, granting himself the unilateral power to detain and deport non-citizens from the United States. If so, could such an action trigger a civil war?
For more about the South, a prophecy of Esau or Edom, see Obadiah
For more on the enemy from the South, see A Sword from the South!
For more into another Captivity: see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years
Joel
A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob 