Anyone who has recently been to major US cities, such as New York, Philadelphia or San Francisco, could not have overlooked the development: long queues are forming in front of the emergency shelters there, including families with children. Hundreds of people are camping on the streets at the entrances to the immigration authorities. On Randall’s Island in Manhattan, huge white tents, each with 600 beds, form a village of their own.
What could also be seen: protests against refugees, for example on Staten Island, in the conservative part of New York.
The pressure on Joe Biden is growing – and it is increasingly coming from within his own ranks: “The emergency shelters are overcrowded and the coffers are empty,” says New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat. “It’s a humanitarian and financial crisis,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, also a Democrat. “Help workers and border officials are overloaded,” report cities and communities along the Mexican border.
Their common message to the White House: We feel let down.
The issue of migration was at the top of the list for the US President at the beginning of this year, not least because the numbers are so dramatic: 2.5 million people came across the southern border in 2023, primarily from Venezuela, African countries, China – In December there were sometimes more than 10,000 per day, a new record. Many of them are put on buses by Texas’ Republican Governor Greg Abbott and sent to cities run by Democrats, often without any winter clothing.
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