Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has rejected the mayor of the District of Columbia’s request for the National Guard to help receive settled migrants in Washington, D.C., after determining it would harm the military’s preparedness.
A US defense official said in a statement, the Pentagon has concluded that providing the requested support would negatively impact the preparedness of the DC National Guard and adversely affect the Guard and its members.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser requested that the non-governmental organization SAMU First Response help the guards “with the transportation and reception of migrants arriving in the DC area,” the statement said. The official noted that SAMU First Response has received some federal funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency that is enough at this point for the group to continue helping the district.
In April, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, started putting migrants in buses to DC, initially in response to the Biden administration’s efforts to abolish Title 42, a pandemic-related emergency policy that would enable border agents to quickly evacuate migrants.
“A lot of leaders in the Biden administration and Congress have no idea about the chaos caused by their open border policies,” Abbott said in April. He said government leaders should come to Texas to see the adverse effects of those policies. “And if they’re not going to come to the border, I’ll take them to the border in Washington, DC”
Since then, Abbott says he has settled more than 6,500 undocumented immigrants in Washington, D.C.
Abbott told the conservative, “They can’t handle that one challenge, and we deal with that number every day. I have one thing to tell you and to tell them, there are more buses on the way.” Activists at the CPAC convention on Thursday in Dallas.
A month after Abbott began settling immigrants in D.C., Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, also a Republican, followed his lead and began settling immigrants to D.C.
“With Arizona community resources under an all-time demand, and with little action or assistance from the federal government, individuals entering Arizona seeking asylum have the opportunity to be voluntarily moved to Washington, D.C.,” he said. said in one Press release those days. “Transportation will include food, and onboard staff and support.”
Democrat DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Tells Margaret Brennan “Face the Nation” The federal response was required to receive migrants in July.
“I’m afraid they’re being duped into nationwide bus trips when their final destinations are all over the United States… local taxpayers aren’t picking up the tab and shouldn’t be picking up the tab. And we really need one.” Coordinated federal response,” Bowser said.
