Mayor Johnston and Four Other Big City Mayors Want $5 Billion to Care for Migrant Surge
As the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border continues to escalate, the mayors of five major U.S. "sanctuary cities,” including Denver’s mayor Mike Johnston, are calling on President Joe Biden for federal help in managing the surge of migrants overwhelming their communities and budgets.
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the mayors of Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York expressed their concerns and frustration over the lack of coordination and resources from the Biden administration in dealing with the influx of migrants to their cities.
"We appreciate President Biden's efforts so far, but more needs to be done to ease the burden on our cities," the letter reads.
The situation at the border has become increasingly dire, with migrants sleeping in police station foyers in Chicago, a cruise ship terminal turned into a shelter in New York, and Denver facing a tenfold increase in arrivals with limited shelter space.
These migrants, faced with a shortage of available work authorizations, are struggling to find jobs and proper housing.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, leading the coalition of mayors, lamented the crisis, stating that the federal government is standing in the way of employers who want to hire hardworking individuals seeking a better life in America.
Joining Johnston in signing the letter were the mayors of the country's four largest “sanctuary cities”: Eric Adams of New York, Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, and Sylvester Turner of Houston.
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The Democrat president has come under fire from his own party for not doing enough to address the growing number of migrants in their cities.
Meanwhile, Republicans accuse Biden of being soft on border security and allowing too many people to enter the United States.
In response, Biden recently has toughened rules at the border and offered incentives for legal migration. However, the root cause of the surge in migrants is complex, with economic and climate hardships in their home countries being key drivers. Additionally, conservative-leaning states have been sending migrants to sanctuary cities, exacerbating the situation.
The problem has only worsened.
In the past, arriving migrants would be released and taken in by nonprofit organizations or family members in the United States. However, with a change in the nationalities of those arriving and a backlog in the immigration court system, many are being left with nowhere to go:
The mayors, who have already spent millions of dollars to care for migrants, are now asking for an additional $5 billion in federal funding to provide shelter and services.
The five mayors also want an accelerated work authorization process and expanded authorization for migrants to find jobs while awaiting their immigration cases.
In addition, the mayors are pressing for the creation of a regional migrant coordinator to better coordinate efforts between the federal government, nonprofits, and state and local officials.
With no clear solution in sight, it remains to be seen if Congress will approve the funding that the Biden administration has requested, not for additional border security, but to care for the historic numbers of migrants that have crossed the southern border while Biden has been president.
In the meantime, the mayors are anxiously awaiting a response and hoping for a common-sense solution to the crisis at hand. "We believe there is a real path forward and that's why we're asking for support," said Mayor Johnston.