El Paso mayor STOPS sending migrant buses to sanctuary cities

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

What is going on in El Paso? Like many cities and towns in Texas, El Paso has a problem with the number of illegal immigrants flowing into the city from the porous southern border. Mayor Oscar Leeser finds himself in the center of a controversy of his own making in how El Paso is dealing with the illegal immigrants. Americans are surprised to learn that El Paso has been bussing illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities and being reimbursed by FEMA for the expenses. Now it is reported that Mayor Leeser is ending the program after it has been exposed.

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El Paso has sent 292 buses to sanctuary cities carrying almost 14,000 people since August.

At the end of August I wrote about the Biden administration bussing the illegal immigrants out of El Paso and to sanctuary cities. The city is reimbursed by FEMA for its expenses. This story flew in the face of the trashing being done to Governor Abbott and Arizona Governor Ducey by Democrats for their efforts to draw attention to the Biden border crisis. Sending migrant buses to Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago captured the attention of the media who have mostly ignored the chaos on the southern border. All of those deep blue sanctuary cities were supposed to welcome with open arms anyone who came. That is until illegal immigrants actually did start coming in on buses. Suddenly the burden was too much for any of them to handle and how dare two red state governors send the buses in the first place?

Hundreds of illegal immigrants were being turned out on the streets of El Paso because of overcrowded shelters and the lack of housing to accommodate them. Mayor Leeser told city council members that he was considering declaring an emergency due to the situation. Then, CNN reported this week that the White House asked him not to do that before the midterm elections. It would look bad for the Biden administration. Leeser, a Democrat, was asked on Fox News Channel Wednesday if he had been asked to not declare an emergency by the White House and he said no. Someone is lying somewhere.

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So, after all of that, it is now being reported that the buses from El Paso going to sanctuary cities are no longer going to be doing that. Mayor Leeser is ending the program because the Biden administration is re-implementing Title 42 in order to expel Venezuelans at the border. They will have to wait in Mexico until their asylum claims are processed. Joe Biden declared that Title 42 will not longer be used at the southern border because the pandemic is over. Biden ended the Remain in Mexico program that the previous administration used in partnership with Mexico to control the flood of illegal immigrants at the border on his first day in office. His new program for Venezuelans sure sounds a lot like the old Remain in Mexico program, but it’s only for Venezuelans. Venezuelans make up a majority of illegal immigrants now at the border. Venezuela will not take them back.

A spokesperson for the city said the busing program, which coordinated with Democratic mayors in receiving cities, is no longer needed as U.S. border authorities have stopped sending migrants to the city under a new expulsion policy.

The city had previously been inundated by a large number of migrants that overwhelmed the capacity of city shelters and left many of the illegal immigrants on the streets, El Paso Matters reports.

It has since sent 292 buses to the liberal cities — the last of which departed on Thursday — carrying almost 14,000 people.

Of those, nearly 10,600 migrants were brought to New York, leading Mayor Eric Adams to ask his counterparts in El Paso to stop sending the buses.

But city officials say since President Biden reinstated Title 42 — a COVID-era policy enacted under former President Donald Trump to reduce border crossings — the buses are no longer needed.

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Illegal Venezuelan migrants are in for a rude awakening. Most will not qualify for asylum as the laws are currently written. A new Biden initiative allows for up to 24,000 Venezuelans with U.S. sponsors to apply for humanitarian entry by air. However, Venezuelans who illegally enter the U.S., Mexico, or Panama are ineligible. Venezuelans expect to come to the U.S. and be allowed to stay and that, allegedly, will no longer be the case. Time will tell if Biden follows through on the new policy.

One thing is certain – El Paso no longer has the overcrowding problems with illegal immigrants on its streets since Venezuelans have been stopped at the border. Just think if Sleepy Joe Biden would enforce the law across the southern border. He has no desire to do that, though. The program for the Venezuelans is a start but it’s only one small baby step. The Biden border crisis is a humanitarian crisis. It’s also a national security threat. Drug cartels are in charge of some sections of the border and fentanyl is flowing into the country as never before. Joe Biden is turning a blind eye. He made a political calculation when he was running for president that he would be an open borders kind of president and that is what he is doing. He has shown no desire to change course, admit that Trump’s programs were working, and re-implement them to secure the border. Biden’s very large ego threatens the sovereignty of the United States.

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John Sexton 7:00 PM | December 06, 2024
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