States pull back their welcome mats for illegal migrants

The federal and state governments have taken a short-sighted (albeit well-intentioned) approach to illegal immigration.  Incentivized by America’s “open-border” policies, millions of migrants have descended upon communities throughout our nation.  But it didn’t take long for emergency shelters, social services, schools, and taxpayers to become overwhelmed.  With no real options left, more and more state and city governments are trying to move migrants out of their jurisdictions to other places (i.e., any place else), where the migrants will become someone else’s problem.

There are plenty of examples where states have abruptly pulled back the welcome mat for migrants and sent them packing.  Examples include Texas sending migrants to Denver; Denver sending them to Utah and Illinois; and Florida sending them to Massachusetts.  This policy behavior really brings it home – every state is now a “border state.”

Not surprisingly, these relocation efforts have caused angst and resentment between states.  For example, Texas’ Operation Lone Star has bused more than 118,000 immigrants to so-called “sanctuary” cities, 19,000 of which were bused to Denver.  

All told, Denver has accommodated over 42,000 migrants, at a cost of more than $71 million.  While Denver has received state and federal funding, City taxpayers are shouldering the bulk of the expenses.  Mayor Johnston has since proposed roughly $40 million in cuts, primarily to public safety, to various departments.

To create their own “release valve,” Denver began a busing program 18 months ago.  The Mile High City has purchased more than 2,000 tickets for migrants to travel to Salt Lake City.  In response, Utah Governor Spencer Cox blasted Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration, saying it is “completely unacceptable” to bus migrants — who crossed the southern border illegally and ended up in Denver — to Utah.

Massachusetts serves as yet another example of a migrant-receiving state dealing with the unforgiving logistics of trying to accommodate the mass influx of migrants.  Massachusetts is the only state in the country to have a “right-to-shelter” law, which was never designed to accommodate a large and expanding migrant population.

Like so many states before the recent massive influx of migrants, Massachusetts was already facing a housing crisis – rising homelessness and a lack of affordable housing.  But now conditions are much worse — there’s an even greater demand for housing, and the state’s emergency shelter system is at capacity, despite hundreds of millions of tax dollars being spent (at about $1 billion per year).  

That’s why, after years of being slammed with waves of illegal migrants, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) announced (on 7/24/2024) that the state would limit stays at emergency shelters to just five days for migrants, and that it will be offering to cover plane tickets and other travel expenses for migrants who wish to leave.

So, what have we learned from all this turmoil?  In the name of humanitarianism, America let in as many migrants as we “could” (~a state’s worth of people).  But now we’re worse off than before — millions of poorly-educated, destitute and helpless migrants hoping for a break, less housing availability, increased homelessness and once again, as if all our efforts and sacrifices meant nothing, we are turning away poor migrants.

Migrants now appear to be faced with only three options once government housing exceeds its carrying capacity – 

1. Live on the streets;
2. Travel to some other place (e.g., city) and hope for the best, and
3. Go back home to their “sender” countries.

What happens if migrants wind up living in the streets?  Will they ultimately be picked up and deported?  Isn’t that what the Biden-Harris administration is trying to avoid?  It appears that the kindest gesture of all would have been for the U.S. government to authentically discourage illegal migrants from coming in the first place.

Not only has our government’s immigration “system” proven to be unsustainable, but it also has been cruel to both Americans and migrants.  The “root cause” for all this despair is because millions of destitute people from all over the world came to America only to have their hopes dashed of getting jobs, housing, social services, and schooling.  We now must dramatically reduce immigration rates, and prioritize the needs of low-income and struggling Americans.