President Biden is marking his second anniversary in office by hosting a bipartisan meeting with many of the nation's mayors to deal with the surge of migrants at the United States and Mexican border. Recently, there have been record numbers of undocumented immigrants flooding American cities. New York City has been hit particularly hard. Mayor Adams stated on January 18 that, “There’s no more room” in the five boroughs to support any more asylum seekers since the arrival of approximately 40,000 illegal immigrants in 2022.
Mayor Adams stated that the migrant situation is "a national problem" and the strategy needed is a 50-state one. "Every attempt to deal with immigration on a national level through legislation has been sabotaged, mostly by right-wing opposition," Adams said. "And cities are bearing the brunt of this failure.”
While the list of all participants has not yet been released, the White House says more than 175 mayors are expected to attend Friday's meeting with President Biden. Aside from the pressing issue of immigration, President Biden will also address the American Rescue plan - a $1.9 trillion Covid relief package that became law in 2021. He is also expected to discuss the infrastructure package.
The mayors will be asking the federal government for assistance on several issues, but the main issue is the current migrant crisis. Cities need humanitarian assistance as their communities are overwhelmed, scrambling to provide adequate food and shelter for the people.
Mayor Adams, who visited the bordertown of El Paso, Texas on Sunday, January 15, said what he witnessed was "not a state problem or a city problem. It is a national problem, driven by global forces, impacting regular people."
Specifically, Mayor Adams will be asking to implement a decompression policy in dealing with those seeking entry into the United States. This includes a “strategy at the border that evaluates asylum claims,establishes a plan for each migrant’s arrival —before entry into the United States — and a system to fairly distribute newcomers regionally.”
President Biden has been criticized by both parties for failing to do enough to address the immigrant problem. The new Republican House majority has begun an investigation into the Biden administration's response to the crisis.
A hearing is planned on this matter for early February.
Comments / 37