- The mayor of Washington, DC., has asked the White House for National Guard help with the migrant crisis.
- Cities in Texas and Arizona are sending thousands of migrants to Washington.
- Mayor Muriel Bowser is asking for an open-ended deployment of 150 National Guard personnel each day.
WASHINGTON: The District of Columbia has sought National Guard troops to address a “growing humanitarian crisis” caused by southern states’ sending thousands of migrants to Washington.
Mayor Muriel Bowser asked the White House last week for an open-ended deployment of 150 National Guard personnel each day and a “suitable federal location” for a mass housing and processing centre.
She met with Liz Sherwood-Randall, assistant to the president for homeland security, and Julie Chavez Rodriguez on July 21.
As a response to President Joe Biden’s decision to get rid of an emergency health order from the time of the pandemic that limited the number of migrants allowed in, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said they would send busloads of migrants to Washington, D.C.
Since then, roughly 200 buses have delivered more than 4,000 migrants to Union Station, sometimes without resources or direction.
Local charities are feeding and sheltering migrants with a $1 million grant from FEMA. Organizers warned that resources and manpower were running low.
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Bowser wrote that relying on NGOs is unsustainable since they are overworked and underfunded. She has said that the migration makes it harder for her government to help its own homeless people and that Biden’s help is needed.
At a July 18 press conference, Bowser remarked, “We know we have a federal issue that demands a federal response,“
Bowser accuses Abbott and Ducey of “cruel political gamesmanship” and “using desperate people to win political points“
Bowser cannot command a National Guard deployment, a subject that has become emotionally charged as a symbol of the district’s status as less than a state.
Her restricted authority contributed to the January 6, 2021, Capitol revolt by Trump supporters.
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