I feel like that question isn't being asked enough.

Turn Blue Cities against their leaders, turn people against Biden? Generate outrage? Notice how they're not sending these migrants to Red states or towns (AFAIK).

who arrives. Does anybody? I don’t think so.

across the southern border, I think is the point the poster was making. Texas does not get any notice. Texas does not get asked permission if they would like them to enter. Texas does not get to say please only send this many and only at these times and only at these drop off points.

If our democratic values say that we want to allow these people into the country and help them (and currently they do--we are letting in 10,000 migrants per day across the southern border) then that means they must be immediately moved north to major cities. They cannot linger in southern border states simply because there are always more migrants coming across on the heels of those who crossed the day before. I am no fan of Greg Abbott for sure, but even if we had a democratic governor, the migrants would STILL immediately have to be moved north to major cities as soon as they are given permission to stay pending their immigration hearings.

Immigration is a national issue. When we get angry about busses or planes or southern border states, we are getting angry about the wrong thing. If we want to allow these people in and help them, then that means we have to help them. The vast majority of the people coming in are homeless. They have nothing but the clothes on their backs. They have no support system and no one to take them in, which means they are reliant on US social services, at least at first. It is NIMBYism, plain and simple to say "send the busses somewhere else" or "don't bus them at all" hoping they will simply stay away from your city and the problem will be invisible to you. We as democrats must come up with a solid stance on immigration and it can't be talking out of both sides of our mouth, saying "oh, I support helping immigrants" out of one side of our mouth while out of the other we say "as long as I never have one of those busses show up in my town. Make them all stay in Texas border towns where I never have to see a migrant, or have one in my kids' school, or have my tax dollars used to support them, or have them in my neighborhood."

It's NIMBYism, folks. Stop talking about the busses. Migrants have a right to freely travel. Start talking about more funding for the cities that are supporting migrants. Start talking about guest worker programs and getting migrants work permits as soon as they are granted permission to stay pending their hearings. Those are the conversations we need to be having. Not getting mad that a bus full of migrants showed up in your town.

is that there are not enough local resources to help with this amount of people. The Texas border is vast with little towns and colonias sprinkled around, in these areas, there is simply not enough healthcare facilities, sleeping facilities or areas to be fed and processed humanely.

It's about knowing how nasty the weather conditions can be at this time of year and not having any emergency housing in place for arrival because they don't know they're arriving. We're talking about sending people into a cold weather environment without the proper shelter or even clothes. A recent bus dumped them off near Kankakee.

Sending them to some of these Northern cities at this time of year without a coordinated effort on all sides can possibly lead to death. The weather hasn't been awful yet but it's not uncommon to have people freeze to death.

We specifically told them not to come.

Areas not ready for them and that they've possibly never experienced. At this time of the year the shelters are already overcrowded. Leaving them with no pre-planned shelter in place can lead to a death sentence.

Tough luck? They're SOL? We just don't care if they're being put at risk by randomly being dumped somewhere?

It would have been to turn them around instead.

This is not a Texas crisis. It is a national crisis. ALL 50 states need to be assisting

If I were Texas, I'd stop them at the border and tell them to return home, not ship them to another state.

Last edited Sun Jan 7, 2024, 01:10 PM - Edit history (1)

I did misunderstand. But I don't think turning them around at the border is possible. Hopefully the dems will make this a priority

My city is too cold. My city is too hot. We have too many homeless people here already. We don't have enough resources. We don't have enough shelter beds. Our taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for it. Our POC population has been mistreated long enough and they should be prioritized, not migrants. We don't have a homeless shelter at all. Our schools are already failing and we can't take on all these extra kids. Blah blah blah.

Guess what? Every city in the US can come up with a long list of excuses why the busses should not be sent to their city and why the migrants should be sent somewhere else. That is absolutely NIMBYism. Chicago doesn't want to deal with migrants. I get it. But they are not unique in this position. Our current policy is that we are letting in 10,000 migrants per day. Those people have to go somewhere. They cannot all stay in Texas. As soon as 10,000 enter one day, there are 10,000 coming the next day, which is why they are being put on busses to major cities in other parts of the country. If the frustration is that there are not enough resources to support these people for whatever reason (cold, not enough beds, whatever) then fine, but that conversation needs to be directed to the federal level and how many people we are allowing in, rather than the conversation being about anger about busses. Our position as democrats must not be that we talk about immigration out of both sides of our mouths, saying we want to support an open border and let these people out of one side of our mouth, and out of the other, we say "as long as one of those busses never shows up to my city. Send them somewhere else. My city is too cold. Too many homeless. Keep them all hidden in Texas where the problem is invisible to me and I never have to see a migrant or have one in my child's school or have my tax dollars expected to pay for their care."

That's NIMBYism, folks. Immigration is a national issue. We need to stop making it about busses. If we let these people in, we all have to support them.

That could be dangerous with no plans in place to assist them.
I grew up outside of Chicago. People underestimate the cold until they truly experience it. People freeze to death every year. I now live in a smallish town an hour outside of KC. We have 3 small shelters here, all run by religious groups. There are never enough beds available yet we receive more and more to our town every day. 3 froze to death less than a block away from the hospital last year, one in the parking lot.

To claim that others can take any group out of nowhere with no advance notice is insane and you know it, unless you only care about getting them off the border and do not care about the next step.

I guess let them freeze to death on the streets. Treat them worse than a dog that was dumped on a country road. Is that your plan?

A multi state task force run in conjunction with the feds. They would have people in every state working with not only state agencies but employers and private groups, such as churches.

I live in a rural area. We have farms, meat processing plants, nursing homes, daycare centers, etc and not enough workers interested in working. If it were me I would slow down the amount entering each day and put in a quick screening process. The process would include health, psych, background checks including fingerprints and possibly DNA, questions about the location of family and friends who are already here and questions about any skills they may already have for employment. I would have a database set up that could match immigrants entering to more rural areas that are in need of employees. The people working in that specific state would be notified and have reps on site to speak with the person, telling them about employment opportunities, housing,education,etc. I would let them know that a 1 year temporary work permit will be issued, free of charge, as long as they sign paperwork advising that they will notify the proper authorities if any changes are made in employment. If they agree I would notify people in that stare who in turn will notify the employers and local groups that will assist in temporary housing, food, etc. The immigrants who agree to this will be advised that this would be the first step on the path to citizenship and that they must check in with their regional Homeland office every 6 months the first 2-3 years and every year after. Once established they will be offered classes to work on any other skills needed to function in American society and to eventually take a citizenship test. Transportation would then be provided to these areas where they could start a new life. On arrival the local groups will meet them and assist with what is needed.

Dumping them in cities with no plan behind it is not the answer. There are rural areas that need workers. Allow them the opportunity to move somewhere they may actually begin to start a real life. I know around my area we have large hog farms, some which include houses as part of their employment package. That could be a perfect opportunity for families. Most of the larger factories and processors have translators on staff to assist. In my area alone we have Spanish, Russian and Chuukese, all whom work in local factories or on farms. Our schools offer ESL as part of the curriculum.

Instead of dumping them send them to places that actually need them. Of course that's too much effort. Dumping them like dogs is faster and crueler plus gives political bonus points.

Here's where I think we differ. You seem to be putting the blame for what is happening right now on border states. I don't blame the border states. They have been forced to deal with the brunt of immigration pains for decades. All the suggestions you have would really help--but they should all be organized and implemented by the current administration and by Congress. That's where the failure in leadership is currently occurring. It is unfair to blame overburdened border states for not handling it the way we'd like when our leaders who truly have the power to fix things have decided they're not ready to step in at this point.

I blame certain politicians in those border states for turning this into a political stunt. There's a huge difference.
And those major cities in the North would be more likely to want to work with them if there was an actual plan in place. NYC, DC, Chicago, etc would probably be more than willing to assist with being used as a short term gathering place, where additional intake could happen for cities in their states or regions. This may include turning old schools or community centers into a processing center where they could eat, shower, sleep and get their final paperwork together for no more than 72 hours before being transported to the next stage of their lives.

My issue is that our immigrants at the border are treated like a used Kwik Trip wrapper while certs politicians laugh about "sticking it to the Libs". These services need total cooperation and to be heavily coordinated. Without that there will be deaths.

He’s being irresponsible with actual people’s lives for a political stunt. As a governor, he should know better and more appropriate ways to draw attention to an issue.

That fucking idiot is definitely sowing chaos and discord and engaging in Olympic-level shit-stirring. If he was really trying to solve the problem he would (a) coordinate with the governors of all 50 states in transferring the migrants and (b) not loudly target "Democrat cities."

He is sitting there saying to himself, “Goal acheived”

won't pass any goddamn legislation to deal with the issue. WHICH IS THE ONLY WAY THIS IS GOING TO BE SOLVED. That sociopath who is supposed to be Speaker of the House won't do his own fucking job. He wants Biden to deal with it via executive order, because he thinks this will all hurt Biden's re-election chances. They won't do jackshit about it while they have the power to do so, because they want to hang it around the Democrats' necks. And, they know there are enough stupid, ignorant people who don't know how our government is supposed to work, who will fall for this shit. And, it's working.

It's sad to see Democrats each other fighting over who is supposed to care for these people, and not realizing that they're being played by the Republicans.

The mayor and governor Pritzker could coordinate. Abbott isn't going to stop. Complaining about isn't going to make it better. They're going to have to piss some people off or children are going to die in the cold.

I don't believe one word of it without proof beyond a the word of televised reporter.

Do you think she fabricated them?

Very easy to stop the bus traffic if they so choose.

Sounds to me like the Great Lakes states governors need to call a conference on the topic.

I saw many young families out with small children downtown and in Jefferson park. They all had signs asking for help.Normally i see only the older homeless that won't use shelters. I think these families had shelter at night but were out in the day trying to get food money and jobs if possible. They did not have very warm stuff. Light blankets and coats.

Is there no plan to put migrants to work? Do we know what their qualifications are? Manyof the migrants pay a great deal to cartels to come here. They must include qualified people.

It was fine when it was just the states with a southern border. It was their duty.

Sending the migrants elsewhere? How dare you!

it seems that Texas could handle it in a way that didn't make them look like complete raging douchebags.

If it's all legal and on the up and up surely they could communicate with the destination states a little?

It seems like there is a right way to handle the problem and a wrong way. Texas has chosen the wrong way.

Why? I'd speculate but you only have to look at the track record of today's Repukes and there's your answer.

They enjoy the pain and chaos......WHEN THEY ARE DISHING IT OUT.

Has any northern city or state? Abbott is a terrible governor but what has Illinois, New York or any other non-border state done to alleviate the issue?

It would also be really helpful if rather than restricting drop off dates and times and trying to limit the number of busses, Chicago and New York would just accept whatever busses were sent. They would scream and howl at this, but remember... southern border states do not get to restrict numbers or drop off dates or times. They get 10,000 homeless migrants per day whether they are ready or not.

Chicago has over 2 million people. Texas received 1.2 million migrants last year. Imagine the "chaos" it and the small border towns with only 20,000 people experience as the migrants move through day after day and are processed, and more come on their heels the following day. They never get a break. More come the following day. Think about that "chaos" for a minute and then try to understand why migrants are being put on busses and sent north. It's because when you have a small town like Eagle Pass, Texas, which once received 30,000 migrants over the course of 3 days (Eagle Pass has a population of 28,000), you don't have the resources to help that volume of homeless people. Especially when there are always more crossing the next day. The major cities are the ones with the resources and jobs to help.

I understand the frustration that there is a lack of resources. But aiming that frustration at Texas/Abbott is misplaced. As long as our decision is to keep the border open at the current level it is, the only option is to move the people crossing on. If we are unable to support and aid the number of people we are currently letting in per day, that's not something Texas/Abbott can do anything about. Those changes would need to be implemented at the federal level, and so that's where the conversation needs to be directed. Not about busses.

But most don't want to.

(And it’s over 30,000 now)

BUT!

There’s only so many shelters there. Unlike warm weather and border states, IL is cold for 6 months out of the year. It’s almost impossible for the regular Chicago homeless population to survive outside over the winter without significant resources. Add on 30k more people that also need expensive outdoor clothing and housing (at minimum) and it IS a crisis.

To reiterate, it’s cruel, inhumane and quite deadly to send folks north without any ability to clothe and house them properly. That’s the problem.

Biden needs to be coordinating a federal response to ensure these folks get to places that can help them. DEMS need to step up. Pritzker has said IL will help but he’s demanding more federal funding to buy old hotels or rehab closed schools for shelters for example

Why would they go to Texas?

Let them be Texas' problem? Just don't let them go to your city/town?

"Yes, make them stay in Texas and make them solely Greg Abbott's problem, cuz he's a Republican and we hate him, so fuck him!" Are we understanding you correctly?

We need to get a solid democratic message on immigration. Right now our message is frustration over bussing out of one side of our mouth (NIMBYism) and saying we are for allowing migrants to come in out of the other. If we want to help these people (which is our current democratic position), that means that all major cities must be able and willing to accept and shelter migrants. There are 10,000 migrants crossing into Texas per day. The vast majority come with only the clothes on their backs and have no family in the US who can take them in. They are completely dependent on US social services at least at first.

If our values say we want to continue allowing the border to be open at the level it is (10,000 homeless migrants per day) then that's fine. But then we have to be prepared to shelter and feed these people until they get on their feet. Not have a NIMBY response of "send them back to Texas" or getting angry about busses and want to lock up busses and fine bus drivers. If we let these people in, every major city must do their part to shelter them because there are 10,000 more coming across every day.

The conversation must shift away from anger at border states/bussing to how can we get resources/funding, guest worker permits? The conversation must shift away from how can I keep those busses from ever showing up at my city, to if we cannot support that many people, to having a conversation at the federal level about how many people we are allowing in per day. Not lashing out at southern border states, who bear the brunt of this anyway.

This must be a national conversation. Not NIMBYism.

And why aren't other major cities VOLUNTEERING to take homeless migrants in? Where is the leadership?

typical with homeless , move on we dont want you. i have no solution do u/

Do you think that Texas alone has the lone responsibility for the border crisis? maybe I missed the reports of other states stepping up to help. Texas spent 4 BILLION dollars on the border from 2020 through 2022 and has just authorized another 1.5 billion.

But that means talking and planning and coordinating, not just randomly sending migrants around the country with none of that. It's not necessarily the *what* of the situation but more the *how* Abbott, et. al are doing it. And it seems to be getting done for partisan political purposes. Newsom and/or other Blue-state governors aren't doing this too, are they? Abbott, Death Santis, et. al aren't sending migrants to Red states, right? That gives away their motives and intentions right there IMHO.

This is not a new crisis. And according to reports Abbott is sending them where they want to go. Chicago and New York are top on the list. I am not an Abbott supporter at all, but he obviously needs some help with this. And so far there is little assistance being offered.

They still shouldn't be sent to other states without coordination. Abbott can get on the phone with other states and ask for assistance and/or at the very bare minimum let them know they're coming. Or is that too much to ask?!

Either with Abbott or other states. But these posts make it seem like this is exclusively ahead problem. It isn't. It is national crisis and from where many Texans (Den and Rep)don't see much help being offered. Have the governor s of new York or Illinois reached out?

In 2022, 2.2 MILLION migrants crossed the southern border into the United States.

1.2 MILLION of those crossings happened in Texas.
Only 249K of them occurred in California.

So Gavin Newsom is only dealing with 1/5th of the numbers of migrants crossing into his state that Texas is having to deal with. Perhaps if he was having 1.2 million crossing into California every year, and Texas had only 249K cross every year, it would be a different story.

And what possible way would that help the situation? This is not just a Texas crisis.

Are the migrants given the opportunity to get the basic immunizations like measles, polio, covid etc. I've never heard it mentioned.

... and that's a good thing, right?

The border states aren't allowed to control who, when or how many immigrants enter their states, but other states complain when they get less than a weeks worth of those immigrants in a year. It is just typical political bullshit, good for thee but not for me.

That he's not doing so indicates this really is nothing more than petulant game playing on his part, giving allowance to his base to pretend it's all above board. Every day I wake with him as gov. is another day I miss Ann Richards that much more.

Texas is getting 10-12k immigrants a day that they can't schedule to arrive when it is convenient to them, a national problem my ass.