Abbott Invites DC, NYC Mayors To Texas Border To See Crisis Firsthand

On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a letter to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, inviting them to visit Texas’ southern border to see the border crisis firsthand after both mayors requested help from the Biden administration to handle the rise in illegal immigrants in their cities.

“As you know, our nation’s southern border has become both a humanitarian and security crisis,” Abbott wrote. “This crisis was created by President Biden and is one that requires immediate and decisive action to be stopped. As Governor of a southern border state, I have watched illegal crossings hit record highs over and over again since President Biden took office. In the absence of federal action, I have deployed unprecedented resources to prevent, deter, and interdict illegal immigration and transnational criminal activity that threatens our citizens. Texas has spent over $3 billion in the past 18 months to curtail the devastation felt by our communities large and small.”

“As law enforcement agents along the Texas-Mexico border respond to thousands of illegal crossings each and every day, putting their lives on the line for Texans and for all Americans, the crisis demands the attention of not only the Biden Administration, which is responsible for securing the border, but of leaders across the country,” Abbott continued. “Unfortunately, President Biden and his ‘Border Czar’ Vice President Harris have refused to see this crisis for themselves—remaining willfully ignorant of the crisis that they have created. In fact, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas recently testified that the border is ‘safe and secure.’ It is neither safe nor secure, as you can both attest to.”

“Your recent interest in this historic and preventable crisis is a welcome development—especially as the President and his Administration have shown no remorse for their actions nor desire to address the situation themselves,” Abbott added. “As Governor, I invite you to visit our border region to see firsthand the dire situation that only grows more urgent with each passing day, and to meet with the local officials, who like yourselves, realize this matter deserves immediate federal action. I also ask you to join me in requesting President Biden secure the border and put an end to this disastrous crisis.”

Abbott noted that Biden’s “reckless open border policies” have made the country more dangerous and pointed to “the flood of deadly fentanyl, now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45, the unimaginable horrors caused by human smuggling and trafficking, the known terrorists from entering our country, and the countless other crimes that have been committed by the hundreds of thousands of ‘gotaways’ that the Biden Administration has let slip through.”

“I look forward to welcoming you the Texas-Mexico border so that you can see this crisis for yourself. Please contact my office to make travel arrangements for your visits,” Abbott concluded.

Last month, Washington, D.C., Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letter to the Department of Defense requesting help from the National Guard to help the city handle the increase in illegal immigrants following the decision by some border states to transport illegal immigrants to the sanctuary cities of New York City and Washington, D.C.

“With pledges from Texas and Arizona to continue these abhorrent operations indefinitely, the situation is dire, and we consider this a humanitarian crisis — one that could overwhelm our social support network without immediate and sustained federal intervention,” Bowser wrote.

“We’ve had a number of discussions,” she said. “We’ve facilitated FEMA’s involvement with a million dollar grant that has now been increased to work with a lead nonprofit agency. We’ve facilitated using those grant funds to set up respite center in a neighboring jurisdiction and I’ve also asked the Secretary of the Army to deploy the D.C. National Guard to help lead that effort.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams also requested help from the federal government, saying that the busloads of illegal immigrants are overwhelming the city’s shelter system.

“In some instances, families are arriving on buses sent by the Texas and Arizona governments, while in other cases, it appears that individuals are being sent by the federal government,” Adams said, according to Fox News.

Adam’s reportedly asked for “federal resources to assist with the influx of more than 2,800 people into New York City’s shelter system.”

He said “the city is working with the federal government in an effort to provide support and resources to them.”