Secretary Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says the border is secure and that we have operational control. President Biden has also said the border is secure repeatedly, when he has not dismissed the border crisis as “seasonal.” Generally, the Biden Administration has refused to describe the calamity at the border as a crisis at all. However, a growing list of states, cities, and counties across the country are declaring states of emergency to deal with the fall out from the Biden/Mayorkas “secure” border. Someone is not telling the truth.
The latest state to declare an emergency is Massachusetts. The state has 20,000 aliens living in shelters, which constitutes an 80 percent increase over last year. Governor Maura Healey said, “It's exponentially more than our state has ever served in our emergency assistance program. These numbers are being driven by a surge in new arrivals in our country who have been through some of the hardest journeys imaginable."
Governor Healey was a supporter of sanctuary cities before the crisis came to her front door. It has been a common theme throughout this border crisis that many politicians who comfortably cheered on mass migration are now busy eating crow.
The state of New York also declared a state of emergency because of the border crisis overwhelming resources. The Mayor of New York City also declared an emergency due to overwhelming numbers. The Big Apple is even trying to stop migrants from arriving by handing out pamphlets discouraging a visit. What about being a sanctuary? As New York City tries to pass migrants on to other local communities, a battle has begun about who has to take all the migrants. These are the same migrants too many politicians are arguing are a GDP boon for the country and desperately needed to fill a labor shortage.
It isn’t just New York and Massachusetts facing the music either. The Windy City of Chicago has declared a state of emergency due to migrant flows. As did the Governor of Illinois as he activated the National Guard. Additionally, Mayor Michael Hancock declared a state of emergency in Denver, Colorado.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also was forced to declare a state of emergency over the migrant crisis. He said, "As the negative impacts of Biden's lawless immigration policies continue unabated, the burden of the Biden administration's failure falls on local law enforcement who lack the resources to deal with the crisis. When Biden continues to ignore his legal responsibilities, we will step into [sic] support our communities."
Gila Bend, a small town in Arizona, declared a state of emergency, along with cities at the border in Texas like Brownsville, Laredo, and El Paso. The state of Texas launched Operation Lone Star, which activated the National Guard and declared a disaster at the border. Even mighty Washington, D.C. has declared a state of emergency due to an overwhelming influx of migrants. The states of emergency even extend into cities in California.
From sea to shining sea, a polarized country has found something that they all can agree on. This border crisis is a disaster that strains resources and threatens communities. Texas, Florida, and New York count as three of the top four most populous states in the entire country. All three are under some state of emergency due to the border crisis. Two of the three largest cities by population, New York City and Chicago, are under a state of emergency due to the border crisis. Thirteen of the top 50 most populous cities in the country are either in a state of emergency or their whole state is under one. The scope and scale of the carnage is staggering. Comedians like Bill Maher are seeing that the virtue signaling of sanctuary cities and states is bankrupt as actual policy.
However, this is not a situation where we all should revel in schadenfreude. It is true that many sanctimonious politicians are now reaping what they have sown, but they are the least of our concerns. Real people across the country, citizens and migrants, are suffering. This border crisis is leading to an increase in child and forced labor. Americans are being shut out of the job market. And everyone is struggling with rising costs and limited housing. We are way beyond “I told you so.”
The real concern is that the Biden Administration is showing no signs of changing course. Their ‘solution’ is to (illegally) parole into the United States as many aliens as possible. Of course, that allows them to manipulate their statistics, but the states of emergency are not being issued based on how the aliens arrived. Whether or not the thousands of aliens arriving in our communities were paroled in, strolled across an open border, or were apprehended and then released is immaterial. The administration’s abuse of parole does not provide the recipients with housing, education, food, or jobs. Intense resource strain on local communities is caused by overwhelming numbers and the Biden Administration is increasing the numbers and calling it a win.
So here we all sit with bipartisan consensus that the border crisis is causing escalating disaster situations across the country. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is concentrating on hiding the number of aliens entering as opposed to stopping them. How many more emergencies must be declared before the President and his DHS Secretary do their job?
JARED CULVER is a Legal Analyst for NumbersUSA
