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August 25, 2024 - 9:15pm
The busing of migrants from border states to blue cities appears to have been a turning point for public opinion on immigration, eventually pressuring Democrats to pivot to the Right on the issue.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent more than 102,000 migrants to cities throughout the US in the two years after the programme began in April 2022, and at the Republican National Convention in July he pledged: “Those buses will continue to roll until we finally secure our border.”
But he did not send a single migrant bus out of the state in July 2024, with reports indicating there were not enough migrants to send.
Border encounters have decreased considerably this summer from the historic highs of recent years, following a push from the Biden administration to restrict asylum. Joe Biden campaigned on dismantling Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions, and the change in his tone on the issue has coincided with a pivot throughout the Democratic Party toward more restrictive immigration policy, in part because of Abbott’s busing programme.
Migrant-busing exploited an imbalance in American immigration politics. Illegal border crossings have the most immediate and noticeable impact on small, low-income border towns. Places such as Del Rio, Texas, see an influx of migrants equal to 14 times their entire population size on an annual basis. Meanwhile, large and wealthy urban areas far from the border advertise themselves as sanctuary cities despite receiving proportionally few migrants. Upon receiving a sudden influx of migrants, these cities’ Democratic mayors and their Left-leaning constituents quickly changed their tune.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said in late 2023 that illegal immigration would “destroy New York City”, a statement with which 58% of New Yorkers, including 46% of Democrats, agreed in a subsequent poll. Locals told the New York Times that the illegal immigrant surge was “unacceptable” and “a disgrace”. The Democratic mayors of Chicago and Denver joined Adams in calling for Biden to declare a federal emergency over the migrant crisis late last year.
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SubscribeMake the elites live with the consequences of their policies (not just in immigration). A simple, but effective, political strategy.
The facade of luxury beliefs like sanctuary cities crumbles the minute these cities actually have to live with the consequences of their luxury beliefs.
Thanks J Bryant. The Democrats are unfortunately led by NIMBY’s rather than workers and ordinary people, and so it will remain. Best to make it as uncomfortable for them as possible. From immigration to the transvestite kerfuffle ( the word transgender is a nonsense) the elite need to be taught lesson after lesson, continuously ad infinitum.
On any given day, open just about any paper and read about the burden illegal migration has placed on myriad communities in the USA most especially Denver & Aurora (Colorado), Chicago, New York, Massachusetts and Maine. This influx has created housing shortages so that young Americans are finding it hard to purchase a first home, schools are crowded, hospitals are overburdened with some close to bankruptcy and budgets are collapsing. That is the Harris-Biden legacy today.
The Dems are obviously only being, relatively, tough on immigration as it is election time. If they win they will just reopen the borders and continue with their plan to destroy the USA.
Right. They’re going to be insane every 3 and 3/4 years and just spend the last quarter projecting and talking like reasonable people.
Hey – look how often it works.
Yep
> Kamala Harris has been campaigning as a border hawk,
Wasn’t she presiding over this mess for the last 4 years in the first place.
The left are the modern day Pharisees who “bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”
They’ll even conspire to lie, cheat and steal for “the good of the nation” and disregard all laws if they feel their power is threatened.
I was under the impression that it was DeSantis who started this whole thing. And it’s worth pointing out that sending immigrants to uber-wealthy Martha’s Vineyard was hilariously funny. We could use a few more good laughs like that!
Indeed – he also got an “outpouring” of support for that action.
Good for Abbott. Lessons there for others.
Abbott, DeSantis, and others who did this get huge credit for this genius stunt. What’s amazing is that Biden evaded any responsibility. Of all the players doing “mass movement” of illegals scum, Biden did the most. Illegals scum got free bus tix from Biden.
What I was waiting for was the movement of 3-4 planeloads of illegals scum to Hawai’i. All Hawai’i pols are in approval of illegals scum. They pay no price. So up the ante and dump hundreds in Hawai’i.