This has been pretty obvious to many of us for months now but it’s interesting to see it reflected in the NY Times opinion page. New York sure does sound like a southern border state these days.

For far too long, too many Americans considered the border to be someone else’s problem — someone in Texas, maybe, or Arizona or California. People who didn’t live near the border might have condemned harsh tactics used there or offered their communities as sanctuaries for those who managed to slip across it. But for the most part, the challenges of the border remained at the border. Out of sight, out of mind…

Now a major reassessment is underway of what these cities can reasonably be expected to provide to people who have just crossed the border in search of safety and a better life and whether efforts to house and support them will encourage more to come. In a recent survey by Siena College Research Institute, 82 percent of New Yorkers called the arrival of so many migrants a “serious problem,” with 58 percent saying it’s time to slow the flow. New York is starting to think — and act — like a Southern border state now…

It’s clear that the city’s well-earned reputation for welcoming immigrants has played a role in making New York the top destination. Nevertheless, Mr. Adams blames that “madman” — Mr. Abbott — for the crisis, even though only about 13,100 of the roughly 140,000 migrants who arrived over the past year were sent on buses chartered by Texas.

Of course the real problem isn’t Gov. Abbott it’s the porous border and the sheer number of people arriving to claim asylum every day. Having to care for all of those new arrivals is expensive. It costs thousands of dollars per year to educate each public school student. It costs billions to put people up in hotels and provide them with food. Medical care can be very expensive and none of these people have money to pay for it. Blue states are starting to see the problem even if they hesitate to call it that.

In Maine, about 3,500 people are getting general assistance for food and housing, most of whom are asylum seekers in Portland. Officials say the city’s budget for social services grew from $9.9 million in 2019 to $36.8 million for 2024, and this summer leaders warned that without more help from the state, local taxes would have to go up or services could be cut. Illinois had to pause enrollment in its health program for most undocumented adults because costs were projected to surpass $1 billion next year. In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey, a progressive Democrat, declared a state of emergency in August, saying the state is unable to house the number of families seeking emergency shelter, with those living in state-funded shelters having increased 80 percent from last year. She has asked state lawmakers for an additional $250 million to shore up the shelter system, an amount that has raised eyebrows in both parties as lawmakers question when — or if — this crisis will end. And California delayed its food assistance expansion, citing budget cuts.

Long term a lot of new arrivals may make great US citizens. Hispanics coming to this country are often coming to it because they love it and see it as their best hope for a better life. They don’t tend to be fans of the fashionable anti-American wokeness found on many US college campuses.

But the fact remains that there are so many people coming right now that it is putting a serious strain on the entire country’s ability to deal with it. The strain and chaos is not sustainable. Simply put, we can’t keep taking in 2 million people year after year. And the even greater concern is that the numbers keep increasing. We need this to slow down but it’s pretty clear the Biden administration doesn’t have a plan to make that happen. Will we be talking about 3 million migrants this time next year? How long before the entire country sounds like a southern border state?