The readings this week brought up a few things for me. The first: I really had no concept of the scale at which migrants were coming into the United States. I grew up in Baltimore, which, in my understanding, has generally been a place migrants come to as a second or third stop after arriving in the U.S., but not as a port of entry. Far from the Southern border, and with the much bigger cities of D.C., Philadelphia, and New York just a few hours away each, the stories of mass-migration always felt pretty abstract and far away. I’d read and seen news before, of course, documenting the sheer numbers of people fighting to find a place to exist, but reading about the overflowing shelters and emerging camps of homeless people really put some visuals to it for me.
Governor Abbot’s bussing plan is unlike any policy I’ve ever heard of; it just sounds sort of absurd. “Bus by Bus, Texas’ Governor Changed Migration Across the U.S.” shows how inhumanely it was done, not coordinating with groups that receive immigrants, sending them at odd hours to different places, and refusing to work with the receiving cities. It was clearly not a plan created with the interest of the migrants in mind, and there were parts that are downright petty (two buses showing up at Kamala Harris’ house in the middle of the night?!).
But the plan has also done what it set out to do. I know how abstract migration through the Southern border felt growing up on the East Coast. Abbott is right that Democrats (myself included) have ranted on about his harsh border policies with no understanding of the reality of the situation, and it was important that the rest of the country see the scale and stakes of what is happening. It was wild to read about New York City, go back on its policy requiring the provision of a bed to people that need it. It is obvious that more resources are needed to help transition migrants into the U.S; New York’s ICE appointments are booked through 10 years out (City and State NY).
And yet, the readings also showed that we know how to do this. The United for Ukraine policy created a seamless entry for Ukrainian refugees into the country. They were sponsored by families, spreading out all over the country, and immediately allowed to work. There was no narrative of the “burden” the migrants were putting on the country, nor of them “stealing” jobs.
This point of work seems to be the essential one. In NYC, the mayor was pleading with the federal government to extend TPS to the migrants coming in so that they could work, which people desperately wanted to do. As soon as the government granted Venezuelans TPS, 60,000 began working, allowing them to become self-sufficient (City and State NY). Why would the government refuse to allow asylum seekers to work, ensuring that they remain unable to provide for themselves? The articles highlighted how differently immigrants coming from different places are greeted.