American Support For Immigration Drops, Poll Finds, As Tensions Flare Over Migrant Busing From Texas To NYC

Topline

Support for immigration has hit a two-year low, according to a new Gallup poll released Monday, as a political battle heats up over Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s strategy to send migrants from the Mexican border to Washington D.C. and New York City.

Key Facts

News Peg

New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Sunday, calling his strategy to forcibly send dozens of migrants on buses from the Mexico border to New York “unimaginable.” In a recent statement, Abbott referred to New York City as a “drop-off location” in a larger strategy in response to President Joe Biden’s “open border policies overwhelming Texas communities.” At least 68 migrants have arrived as of Monday morning, CNN reported.

Chief Critic

Abbott said in a statement last week that “because of President Biden’s continued refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies, the state of Texas has had to take unprecedented action to keep our communities safe.” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, another Republican, has pushed a similar agenda, sending migrants to Democratic-leaning areas in the Northeast, sparking a political back-and-forth between the Democratic mayors and Republican governors. Abbott wrote in a letter to Adams and Bowser, “your recent interest in this historic and preventable crisis is a welcome development, especially as the president and his administration have shown no remorse for their actions.” In response, Fabien Levy, the press secretary for Adams, said, “we hope Gov. Abbott will focus his energy and resources on providing support and resources to asylum seekers in Texas as we have been hard at work doing in New York City.”

Key Background

The political battle comes half a year after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) introduced the “Stop the Surge” bill to create new port cities in Democratic areas along the coasts, arguing, “if Washington Democrats had to endure even a fraction of the suffering South Texas families, farmers, ranchers and small businesses have had to face, our nation’s immigration laws would be enforced, the wall would be built and the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy would be re-implemented.” The bill went nowhere, after it faced heavy opposition in Congress. Rhode Island Rep. Jim Langevin (D) tweeted, “these kinds of bad-faith proposals do nothing to fix our broken immigration system.” Late last month, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser requested assistance from the National Guard to handle buses of migrants sent to the capital from Texas and Arizona—a strategy Bowser argued has caused a “humanitarian crisis.” Abbott’s primary objection is the Biden administration’s attempts to lift a Trump-era policy called Title 42, which rapidly deported migrants and prevented them from seeking asylum due to Covid-19. In May, a federal judge in Louisiana blocked the Biden administration from lifting the policy. Biden said in a June press conference that his administration is still attempting to halt “dangerous and unlawful” migration, and that safe and legal immigration is “good for all our economies.”

Further Reading

At least 68 migrants arrived in NYC over the weekend on buses sent by Texas Gov. Abbott (CNN)

D.C. Mayor Requests National Guard Help As Texas And Arizona Bus Migrants To City (Forbes)

Adams condemns Texas governor for busing migrants to New York (Politico)