Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, center, stands behind Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, left, and Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, right, at the Hobbs State address on Jan. 2023, in Phoenix.
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Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, center, stands behind Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, left, and Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, right, at the Hobbs State address on Jan. 2023, in Phoenix.
Ross D. Franklin/AP
When the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona began busing immigrants out of their states last year, they said it was to protest the party’s “reckless” federal immigration policies. Democracy.
Democrats criticize this tactic as dehumanizing, especially when migrants confused about where they are going. But several Democratic-led cities and states have since embraced the practice, most recently with the new governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs.
“If we’re spending money on bus riders, why not get them to their final destination?” Hobbs told reporters at a recent press conference.
This is how the politics of transporting migrants has evolved.
Immigrants are always moving around
People always travel within the United States after they apply for asylum at the border.
In the border town of Del Rio, Texas, for example, the nonprofit Val Verde Humane Border Alliance receives immigrants directly from a U.S. Border Patrol station.
From there, they only have a few options to get to their final destination.
“You have to understand the language here. The nearest big city is in San Antonio. It’s a three-hour drive,” said VVHBC chief executive Tiffany Burrow.
Several Greyhound buses leave Del Rio every day. The local airport recently lost service after American Airlines withdraws. The nonprofit also works directly with a private transportation company. VVHBC often helps newcomers figure out where they need to go, then a family member buys tickets for them.
But in 2022, nonprofit and aid groups at the border are struggling to meet basic needs for the record number of people trying to get to the United States, according to federal data.
Burrow says state-run buses are “extremely useful”.
Most do not stay in the cities they usually visit, except New York
Some bus passengers also appreciate the free ride.
“I didn’t know that the ticket to get here cost $500,” said Selina, an immigrant from Chile who took a state-run bus from Texas to Philadelphia. NPR is not using her name because her immigration case is pending.
Selina, who wanted to meet her brother-in-law in New Jersey, told NPR in Spanish that when she arrived in the United States, a security guard told her about the free bus and showed her where to line up. On the other hand, “I can’t pay,” she said.
Passengers disembark from a bus sent by the state of Texas to Philadelphia on December 5, 2022.
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Passengers disembark from a bus sent by the state of Texas to Philadelphia on December 5, 2022.
Laura Benshoff/NPR
That fact helped change immigration policy. Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, said: “What looked like a punishment for immigrants done for political gain has suddenly gone awry. because migrants are rational people.
Not only were they able to get a free ticket to a family or a shelter, Chishti said, but “they found these cities to be really hospitable to immigrants.”
Government agencies and nonprofits in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Chicago and New York have welcomed tens of thousands of immigrants from the border. In many cases, they provide food, shelter, legal services and help with transportation.
Some guests move on quickly. In Philadelphia and DC, about 5-10% of arrivals remained in shelters or subsidized housing as of mid-January, according to data provided by city officials. Chicago officials did not provide enough data for comparison.
In New York, which has a “right to shelter” law, more than 26,000 asylum seekers were staying in city-run shelters as of January 8, according to a city spokesman.
Democrats have begun to adopt the process
Democratic-led cities and states began attracting immigrants last year — with some tweaking.
In El Paso, the Democratic administration was busier 13,000 people as of the fall, far beyond the bus from the state of Texas in some cases.
At the time, Mayor Oscar Leeser said he coordinate with officials in the receiving cities, unlike Governor Abbott. However, the city ended its own bus program in October, and the only government-backed bus program currently operated by the state of Texas, according to a city spokesman.
Then in December, thousands of people started coming to Denver on their own. The city has set up emergency shelters when the temperature outside drops. However, it also purchased individual bus tickets for 1,900 people, getting them to 35 states, according to data provided by local officials.
Josh Rosenblum, spokesman for the city and county, said: “It comes with food, shelter, clothing and toiletries. Those bus tickets are part of a huge humanitarian effort. This”.
Politics is still difficult
Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, announced in early January that the state would also lease buses from Denver to other cities. But just days later, he halted that program, after the mayors of Chicago and New York asked him to stop.
in one declare, Polis directed the blame elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the federal government and Congress have failed the American people on immigration reform and border security,” he said, urging the Biden administration and Congress to set aside funds for states to help. help migrants.
Chishti says the bus controversy is a “wake-up call” for politicians and hopes it will encourage a more coordinated, federally supported system to help migrants move around the country. .
In Arizona, another innovative bus program is underway. Murphy Hebert, communications director for the Arizona Governor’s Office, said the new administration is obligated to use the $15 million already allocated by the legislature to transport immigrants out of border areas.
“We’re reallocating that money to a more efficient and humane program,” she said.
That may include renting a bus or other forms of transportation. While there’s no timeline on when it will launch, “it’s a priority,” Hebert said.
Preliminary federal data for 2023 shows a drop in the number of people crossing over to the US, removing some of the pressure to figure that out.
