by Jennie Taer
Seven sanctuary state governors signed onto a letter Monday begging President Joe Biden and Democrat and Republican leaders in the House and Senate for help in dealing with the surge of migrants arriving in their areas of the country.
Governors from the sanctuary states of New York, California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Mexico joined with the governors of Arizona and Maryland in sending a letter to Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, citing their need for federal support in dealing with the crisis. Meanwhile, negotiations over permanent border security funding are continuing in Congress amid the ongoing surge of illegal immigration, and the governors are asking for more funding as part of the deal that is ultimately made.
New York=Sanctuary state
Colorado=Sanctuary state
California=Sanctuary state
Illinois=Sanctuary state
New Jersey=Sanctuary state
Massachusetts=Sanctuary state
New Mexico=Sanctuary state https://t.co/ho7oURLfc5— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) January 23, 2024
“As Governors representing over 100 million Americans, we write to call on Washington
to work together to solve what has become a humanitarian crisis,” the governors wrote. “The sustained arrival of individuals seeking asylum and requiring shelter and assistance, due to lack of Congressional action on infrastructure and policies, can only be addressed with federal organizational support and funding to meet the public safety and humanitarian needs of our local communities.”
“With ongoing conflicts around the world, global migration is at a historic high,” the governors said. “States and cities cannot indefinitely respond to the subsequent strain on state and local resources without congressional action. Communities along the southern border – as well as interior states and cities across the country–lack the vast coordinated infrastructure needed to respond to the humanitarian and public safety concerns of those seeking lawful entry into the United States.”
New York City has received roughly 160,000 migrants, according to Fox 5 New York, while the city of Denver says it has received more than 34,000 migrants and Chicago says it has received more than 30,000 migrants.
Meanwhile, Border Patrol recorded more than 2 million encounters of migrants crossing the southern border illegally in fiscal year 2023, according to federal data. Fiscal year 2024 has already hit a new monthly record of more than 300,o00 encounters in December alone, according to Fox News.
“America needs a federal solution that supports our economy, immigrants and fixes our immigration system,” the governors wrote.
In September, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urged the welcoming of migrants.
“The inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ That means something to us here in New York,” Hochul said at the time.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged in 2019 giving “sanctuary to all who seek it” in response to then-President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
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Jennie Taer is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Photo “Illegal Immigrants” by Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez.
Photo “Illegal Immigrants” by Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez.
