Illegal Immigrants Are "Dumped" to the Capital A farce reflects the chaos of US governance

The crisis of illegal immigration in the United States continues to ferment. Since April, more than 4,000 illegal immigrants have been artificially transported to Washington, D.C., on nearly 200 buses. According to the website of the New York Post, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser recently had to make a request to the WHITE House and the Department of Defense to dispatch the National Guard to deal with the continuous influx of illegal immigrants.

Notably, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducy, who initiated the "move," are both Republicans with clear differences over immigration policy with the federal government led by Democratic President Joe Biden.

The two states launched the "Transport People" campaign

Over the past few months, Texas and Arizona have "dumped" more than 4,000 illegal immigrants to Washington with nearly 200 buses. Recently, this batch of "transport buses" has improved their "efficiency", making Washington more and more miserable.

To that end, Muriel Bowser described the current problem of illegal immigration as a "humanitarian crisis" that would overwhelm Washington without federal intervention.

In a request for aid to U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin, Muriel Bowser said, "The homeless service system is under tremendous pressure, and many illegal immigrants arrive in Washington with nowhere to go or are still looking for a foothold in other parts of the country." She asked the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy 150 National Guard personnel a day to ensure it can assist Washington in dealing with illegal immigration around the clock.

Following the report, Murriele Bowser sent a letter to White House Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood Randall and Director of the Intergovernmental Affairs Office, Julie Chávez Rodriguez, asking for support from both.

The New York Post article points out that the recent influx of large numbers of illegal immigrants has created an illegal immigration crisis in Washington, and this stems from the dissatisfaction of two Republican governors in Texas and Arizona with the immigration policies of the Biden-led federal government.

Greg Abbott made no secret of sarcasm when talking about the "transport" operation. "We're transporting these people to the capital so that the Biden administration can address their needs more quickly, it's the Biden administration that led these people to cross borders into the U.S.," he said. ”

A spokesman for Greg Abbott's office said Texas was "inundated with thousands of illegal immigrants because of the Biden administration's policies, and it's time for Washington to feel the conundrum that Texans have to face every day."

In response, Muriel Bauser sneered, accusing Greg Abbott and Doug Ducy of "political mini-actions" as "blocking" the federal government.

Immigration tragedies are frequent

Behind the launch of the "transport" operation is the reality of the humanitarian crisis related to the problem of border migration in recent years in the United States.

On June 27, U.S. law enforcement officers found dozens of illegal immigrant bodies in the carriage of an abandoned large truck in San Antonio, Texas, and many others were sent to the hospital and died, killing more than 50 people. It was the worst death toll from border human smuggling in the United States in recent years, described by local officials as a human tragedy.

In addition to the tragedy of immigration on the way north, the US government's violent law enforcement, prolonged detention, and abuse of immigrants have long existed, and there have been frequent scandals and controversies.

According to US media reports, in recent years, of the 266,000 illegal immigrant children detained by the US government, more than 25,000 have been detained for more than 100 days, and nearly 1,000 people have spent more than a year in shelters, and some even more than 5 years.

"The situation at the border is very chaotic, the government is overwhelmed and very unresponsive." Alex Norast, director of economic and social policy at the Cato Institute, said, "Because the (U.S.) government is reluctant to let people in legally, it may be the safest way to get through Mexico by caravan for many people who come here from Central America." ”

In 2021, U.S. law enforcement arrested about 1.7 million illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, including 145,000 children, the data shows. The "separation of flesh and blood" policy imposed by the previous U.S. administration has led to the separation of more than 2,800 migrant children from their parents. The internal management of the detention facilities in question is chaotic and human rights violations are repeated. In September last year, U.S. border police rode horses and whipped away Haitian refugees, which was widely condemned.

The two parties are preoccupied with political struggle

Analysts believe that a very important reason why the problem of illegal immigration in the United States has not been resolved is party struggle.

In recent years, immigration policy has become a focus of the struggle between democracy and republican parties in the United States. During the Trump administration, the United States launched a policy called "Article 42" to authorize border enforcement officers to quickly deport cross-border migrants on the grounds of epidemic prevention. Biden has sought to end the policy since taking office. The game between the two parties in the United States has intensified around this matter.

The bipartisan views on immigration have led to a long-term left-right swing in U.S. policy toward illegal immigration. On the one hand, the mainstream view of Republicans on immigration is that illegal immigration is a serious social problem that will exacerbate the problem of crime in the United States, seriously deplete the American economy, and seize job opportunities for the American people. Democrats, on the other hand, say it is precisely because of poverty and deteriorating policing in Central America that local people have left their homes and that the United States should grant asylum.

After Biden took office, he reversed the Trump administration's hard-line policy on illegal immigration, which led to a monthly increase in the number of people entering the United States illegally. However, on the issue of illegal immigration, although the Attitude of the Democratic Government led by Biden and the Republican administration led by former President Trump is very different, the effect is the same. According to the Congressional Research Service, the number of illegal immigrants in the United States has not decreased since the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall began under the Trump administration's tough immigration policy.

According to a poll by the US media, about one-third of the public agrees with the Biden administration's relaxed immigration policy, and 51% oppose it, of which Republican voters oppose it as high as 90%. This shows the tearing of American public opinion on immigration.

Some commentators in the United States say that the political struggle between the two parties has made the border issue an "expensive campaign prop" and illegal immigrants have become "political pawns". As U.S. columnist Julio Ricciardo Varela put it, U.S. immigration is rigged for political purposes.

Analysts believe that the United States will hold midterm elections this year, and the immigration issue will undoubtedly become a hotter chip in the bipartisan game. After political polarization and intensified partisanship, the problem of illegal immigration in the United States is even more unresolved. This seems to have become an "endless cycle".

In the foreseeable future, whether it is the farce of illegal immigrants being "dumped" to the capital, or the tragedy of "immigrant trucks", it may be repeated more than once in the so-called "beacon of human rights" in the United States.