Of Actions And Consequences

Mayor Eric Adams did say clearly today to the mayor of El Paso that he should stop sending buses of migrants to New York City.
“They should stop sending buses to New York. New York cannot accommodate the number of buses that we have coming here to our city.”

— Emma G. Fitzsimmons (@emmagf) October 7, 2022

The problem is, neither can El Paso.  And the root of the problem is: Venezuela has collapsed.

In recent weeks, Venezuelans have arrived in increasing numbers to the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez region. Shelters are so full in El Paso that Border Patrol officials have released migrants on the street. Migrants who are apprehended or surrender at the border are processed and held while agents determine whether they can be sent to Mexico under the emergency health order known as Title 42.

But Venezuelans can’t be sent across the border because they’re on the list of nationalities Mexico won’t accept. And they can’t be deported back to their country because the U.S. severed diplomatic ties with Venezuela in 2019. Instead, they are released to local shelters.

So we have a problem; a national problem.

The growing numbers have sent the city scrambling to respond. El Paso opened a welcome center nearly a month ago to help some migrants find lodging at local hotels until they can get transportation to their final destination.

Since Aug. 23, the city has chartered at least 60 buses to take nearly 3,000 migrants to New York City and Chicago. El Paso has a $2 million contract with a charter bus company to provide up to five buses per day to transport migrants out of the city. It will seek reimbursement from the federal government for the bus trips.

“What we’re doing here at the city of El Paso is we continue to take care of the individual,” El Paso Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said at a news conference last week. “These are human beings, they’re passing through our community, and it’s just part of their journey.” 

This is not, in other words, the cynicism of Abbott or DeSantis.  But the difference between intent and outcome is, admittedly, hard to identify.  And my take on it is:  this is a federal government problem.  And not just because this isn't a problem El Paso or New York City can solve, or even handle:

Venezuela has been going through social unrest and political turmoil since 2014, when the country’s economy — which depends heavily on oil revenues — began to collapse. What was one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America has fallen into chaos because of falling oil prices, political corruption, and American sanctions against the country’s oil and mining industries and the Central Bank of Venezuela. The sanctions are aimed at ousting the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, who has been accused of election fraud, human rights violations and running an authoritarian government.

As a result, 7 million Venezuelans have fled, more than a fifth of the country’s population — the largest displacement of people in the Western Hemisphere — to seek jobs and safety in other South American countries and the U.S. 

Actions have consequences.  Ted Cruz wants to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security over this.  Ted Cruz is an ass. This is a problem that needs adult, human solutions; not the solutions of a braying ass.  Nor the solutions of a small town (metro El Paso is 974,000) sending these people to the biggest city in the country.