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How migrant buses strained New York City’s shelters

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CNN
 — 

The latest signs of the crisis New York is facing are massive white tents the city’s mayor says he never imagined he’d have to build.

The arrival of buses from the border shows no sign of slowing, and these new emergency shelters on Randall’s Island could soon house hundreds of migrants.

It’s been months since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started busing migrants to New York. And it’s been just over a week since Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency, warning that the growing number of new arrivals were overwhelming homeless shelters, straining resources and could end up costing the city $1 billion.

In a place that’s long prided its history as a home for immigrants, where the right to shelter is legally guaranteed, the sudden arrival of busloads of asylum seekers has forced officials to reckon with those ideals in real time.

Abbott argues he’s exposed the hypocrisy of liberal leaders who are buckling under pressure that’s a fraction of what border states like his deal with daily. Adams says his city has risen to the occasion, and that New York remains committed to helping the many arriving migrants who’ve gotten caught in the cruelty of a man-made crisis. But to do that, he says, the city needs – and deserves – more help from state and federal officials.

“This is unsustainable,” Adams said as he announced the state of emergency. “The city is going to run out of funding for other priorities.”

It’s a fast-moving situation in America’s largest city at a politically volatile moment, with midterm elections looming. Here’s a look at some of the key issues we’re watching.

Many of the arriving migrants have ended up in New York’s already overburdened homeless shelter system, which Adams warned last month was “nearing a breaking point.”

City officials say an increasing number of asylum seekers fueled a steep rise in the shelter population, which hit a record-setting high of more than 62,500 people last week and has kept climbing.

Adams says about one in five people in the city’s shelters are asylum seekers – and that the shelter population could continue to increase dramatically if migrants continue to arrive at the same rate.

“Though our compassion is limitless, our resources are not,” Adams said as he declared the situation an emergency last week. “Our shelter system is now operating near 100% capacity. And if these trends continue, we’ll be over 100,000 in the year to come. That’s far more than the system was ever designed to handle.”

Advocates point out that problems with the city’s shelter system have persisted for years.

“We were concerned about capacity even before there was any discussion about an influx of recent migrants,” says Kathryn Kliff, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Rights Project.

The shelter population had dipped during the pandemic, but it’s been growing steadily since April, according to city data. The arrival of more migrants in the city is one factor, Kliff says, but far from the only one.

Evictions, which have been on the rise since a pandemic moratorium ended earlier this year, are forcing many people to seek shelter, Kliff says. Others are driven by domestic violence or crushingly high housing costs, she says.

“There’s certainly an uptick in the numbers, and there’s a lot of people coming in,” she said. “It’s so difficult to afford housing in New York City, and the city has not prioritized investing in affordable housing. All of these factors are contributing to a situation where we’re reaching an all-time high in terms of the shelter census.”

According to the latest tally from New York, as of Saturday more than 19,400 asylum seekers had entered the city’s shelter system in recent months. Last week officials told CNN more than 14,100 remained in shelters.

“A lot of times people see what that system is and say, ‘This is not what I want’ and then go elsewhere,” Kliff says.

The migrants who remain, she says, are often the ones who need the most help. Advocates say many don’t have any connections with the community or idea of where to turn for help.

“By the time they get here, they have literally nothing. They’re coming with the only clothing they own,” Kliff says. “They’ve been through so much, and so much trauma, when they get here.”

The Texas governor’s campaign to bus migrants north has gotten the most attention. It’s also drawn sharp criticism from Adams and others who accuse him of treating people as political pawns as Abbott, a Republican, seeks reelection.

According to the latest figures released by Abbott’s office, Texas has bused more than 3,300 migrants to New York since August 5. New York officials have said they believe busing to their city began well before August.

But Abbott’s effort isn’t the only one. The city of El Paso, Texas, which – like New York – is led by a Democratic mayor, says it’s sent about 10,000 migrants to New York City so far this year.

Many migrants also come to New York on their own with the financial assistance of nonprofits.

City officials have said most migrants arriving in New York are from South America. CNN has spoken with many asylum seekers from Venezuela among the recent arrivals.

Other large cities, including Chicago and Washington, have also seen an increasing number of migrant arrivals on buses from Texas. But there’s a key detail that sets New York apart. As a result of a series of lawsuits and consent decrees, the city is legally required to provide shelter to anyone who requests it.

“New York is unique. We have a right to shelter in a way that other places don’t. … We’re the only jurisdiction that has a right to shelter that’s enforceable by a court,” Kliff says.

The policy applies to anyone in the city, including migrants who’ve just arrived. The right was hard fought, and it’s important that migrants are included in protections, Kliff says.

Last month Adams told CNN’s Jake Tapper the city was committed to complying with it.

“We’re going to follow the law, and as well as our moral obligation and responsibilities. It is going to be challenging. We’re experiencing the challenges in doing so. But we’re obligated by law here in the city of New York. … This is a right-to-shelter city, and we’re going to fulfill our obligations,” he said.

The mayor’s emergency declaration and accompanying executive order waive land-use restrictions and allow for the swift construction of emergency shelter space, like the tents erected on Randall’s Island, just east of Manhattan.

Officials say the facility, dubbed a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, will provide temporary respite to about 500 adult asylum seekers and is expected to open soon.

About a third of migrants arriving on buses report a desire to go to other destinations, according to Manuel Castro, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

“The humanitarian centers…will provide support for those who want to move on to other cities and states,” he recently told reporters.

The approach has faced criticism from some city council members, who argue hotels are a better option and have raised concerns about flooding and other environmental issues with possible tent shelter sites. Adams has announced the city is opening a family-focused center at a hotel in midtown-Manhattan and pushed back on criticism of the tents, calling for city council members to offer more solutions.

Kliff says the Legal Aid Society is also watching the tent effort closely to make sure it complies with right-to-shelter requirements.

“The announcements keep changing about exactly what they’re providing and how they’re providing it,” she says. “Our concern is about protecting the right to shelter and making sure asylum seekers are not in a position where they’re offered something less than what they’re entitled to.”

Roughly 3 million immigrants live in New York, more than a third of the city’s population. And the city has a long history of welcoming immigrants.

Nancy Foner, a distinguished professor of sociology at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center, has studied it closely.

How do the number of recent migrants described by city officials as “unprecedented” stack up against past arrivals?

“That’s nothing,” Foner says after hearing the city’s latest statistics.

“There was probably a higher percentage of immigrants and their children in New York City in 1910-1920 than there is today. Immigrants were pouring in -— the Italians, the Irish, the Russian Jews,” she says.

More recent arrivals come from other parts of the world, she says, and there’s also another notable difference.

“The way they’re coming is unprecedented, that they’re being shipped from one part of the country to another,” she says.

That’s a big reason behind the crisis, according to Adams.

“Thousands of asylum seekers have been bused into New York City and simply dropped off without notice, coordination or care, and more are arriving every day,” he said as he announced his emergency declaration.

Camille Mackler bristled at first when she heard the mayor declare a state of emergency. To her, his words flew in the face of months of welcoming efforts.

“We’ve shown that we can welcome differently. And I think we should also be able to talk about it differently. … New York has shown that we don’t need to treat these individuals as a danger. They’re not a threat,” says Mackler, executive director of Immigrant ARC, which represents legal service providers.

“They’re coming here. They need help. They need assistance. We know that if we provide it for them, they will make New York home and we’ll be the better for it.”

But she said she understands there are strategic reasons behind the mayor’s move.

“I do understand from a tactical perspective that a state of emergency declaration frees up funds and allows the administration to pursue potentially other sources of funding, and to put more pressure on the state and federal government to provide more support,” she said.

The thousands of asylum seekers who’ve arrived in New York in recent months are just a fraction of the more than half a million migrants in the 2022 fiscal year who were apprehended at the US southern border, processed and released by authorities while their immigration cases proceed, according to US Customs and Border Protection.

A CNN analysis earlier this month found that migrants from three countries – Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba – were driving a spike in encounters at the southern border.

Days later, the Biden administration announced that authorities would start sending Venezuelans who are apprehended at the border back into Mexico, while also creating a legal pathway and screening process for 24,000 Venezuelans with US ties to enter the country at ports of entry.

The move sparked a swift chorus of criticism from immigrant rights groups, who argue that the administration’s announcement that it had reached a deal with Mexican authorities and will now use the Title 42 public health measure against Venezuelans is unjust and dangerous.

If it’s applied as rigidly to Venezuelan migrants as the Biden administration has vowed it will be, the policy could significantly decrease the number of migrants who are released into the United States after crossing the border. That could also mean less migrants end up making the trek to New York.

Adams praised the move in a statement, calling it a “short-term step to address this humanitarian crisis and humanely manage the flow of border crossings.” But he said he’s still hoping to get more help from Washington, including “Congress both passing legislation that will allow asylum seekers to legally work and providing emergency financial relief for our city.”

So far, the city is still waiting for that emergency federal funding. And buses of migrants keep arriving.

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New York Mayor Eric Adams Tries a Sneaky New Tactic to Stifle Texas Guv Greg Abbott’s Migrant Bus Stunts

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New York City deployed a new tactic Friday morning in an effort to counter Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s increasing flow of migrant buses: drowning the bus companies and their drivers in traffic violations.

Two more buses arrived at the city’s Port Authority Bus Terminal just after 6 a.m. Friday, adding to the more than 17,000 migrants Abbott has bused to New York in a sick political stunt.

This time, however, a half-dozen uniformed members of the NYPD Highway Patrol’s Motor Carrier Safety Unit were waiting.

The first bus to arrive was a blue Volvo bearing Mexican “Autotransporte Federal Turismo” license plates, owned and operated by a company out of Cedar Hill, Texas, called Autobuses La Sultana LC. A white document taped to the windshield read “TEXAS 144- HOUR PERMIT” and “VALID IN TEXAS ONLY” and was dated Oct. 6. The second bus had Texas plates and was marked “EJECTIVO TRAVEL.”

The driver of the first bus, 38-year-old Robert Reas, told The Daily Beast he lives in Monterrey, Mexico, where the bus is based. He said he began his journey by crossing the border at Laredo, Texas, then driving to El Paso, where he and his co-driver picked up three dozen migrants at “an institution,” including a half-dozen children. The migrants were from Venezuela and Ecuador, he said.

Reas said the bus stopped in Dallas and Nashville, letting out three or four people at each city, then continuing the 40-hour drive to New York. He said it was his second trip to New York with migrants.

Cops set out inspecting both buses with a fine-tooth comb, examining the tires and checking the air brakes, lights, and windshield wipers. They paid particular attention to a device that regulates tire air pressure.

They also inspected Reas’ license and his log book, in which he has to record information like when he rests and how long he drives at a time.

After the inspection, officers left both drivers with a handful of summonses; Reas counted a half-dozen. The Daily Beast has asked the NYPD for a run-down of the violations cited.

The new strategy is a variation on a crackdown on private sanitation trucks in 2018, which involved intensive inspections and summonsing.

Police sources told The Daily Beast the Motor Carrier Safety Unit usually inspects just 20 buses a year. A source said that the new tactic has originated from City Hall and is overseen by Timothy Pearson, a retired NYPD inspector who is now one of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ top advisers.

The source said the city plans to continue the crackdown Monday through Friday next week, and possibly beyond.

As he waited to get the summonses, Reas was asked if he had heard of Adams. “I don’t know who is Eric Adams,” he said.

At about 7 a.m. the cops let him and the other bus continue on their way.

Adams declared a state of emergency over the migrant arrivals on Friday and directed relevant agencies to construct humanitarian relief centers. He called the influx a “crisis situation” that will cost the city $1 billion by the end of the year.

Friday’s episode was just the latest attempt by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to spend big bucks to shuttle newly arrived migrants to liberal-leaning cities far from the southern border. Another two busloads arrived in New York on Thursday, and one busload was dumped on the doorstep of Vice President Kamala Harris’ official residence in Washington, D.C., where more than 10,000 migrants have been shipped in recent months. DeSantis, meanwhile, is under investigation for chartering a plane to carry unsuspecting migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.

Conservative media outlets have often been tipped off about the arrivals while city officials have been kept in the dark, leading migrant advocates to slam the stunts as craven and cruel.

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Democrats slam moves by GOP governors on migrants

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CNN
 — 

Several prominent Democrats on Sunday slammed recent moves by Republican governors to send migrants from the southern border to northern liberal enclaves to protest what they say are inadequate federal efforts on southern border security.

“We should not be really treating other cities and municipalities in the manner that we’re witnessing now,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

Adams said the current migrant situation is a “humanitarian crisis created by human hands” that requires “an all-hands-on-deck moment” of coordination by the US.

“We’re all supposed to come together and coordinate. Coordination during a crisis is something that we must do together. That’s the federal government, that is also the governor of the state of Texas, as well as the governor of the state of Florida,” he added.

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents a border district in Texas, called on the Biden administration to enforce Obama-era immigration laws that sent migrants back to their home countries. But he also criticized Republican governors for sending migrants to other cities, saying, “We need solutions and not theater.”

“The migrants are human beings and we got to treat them like human beings. They’re being used as political pawns to get publicity,” he said.

The Democrats’ remarks come come days after GOP Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida sent migrants in Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, DC. Though their moves have been blasted by critics as political stunts, they underscore the growing crisis at the southern border and the need for leaders in Washington and elsewhere to work together to address the issue.

Abbott’s office estimated last week that more than 2,500 migrants have been bused from Texas to New York.

For his part, Adams said Abbott and DeSantis are exhibiting an “erosion of basic human rights” by “treating people in an inhumane manner.” He went on to describe some of the conditions migrants were found in when they’ve arrived in New York from border states.

“In some cases, we had those who were Covid positive on the buses with individuals who were dehydrated – didn’t have proper food,” he said. “Some were even tagged, like you would tag an animal.”

Former President Bill Clinton also criticized DeSantis for his move last week, telling CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview that aired Sunday on “GPS” that it “may come back to haunt him a little bit.”

Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, meanwhile, defended Abbott and DeSantis in a separate interview Sunday on “State of the Union,” arguing that the governors were “doing their best to try to send a message to the rest of the nation about the plight of those individuals that are coming from south of the border.”

“You’re talking about 3.4 million people, just since the start of this Biden administration, that have crossed the border. And they’re coming into southern states,” Rounds said. “What is a governor supposed to do? They are trying to send a message to the rest of the country that this is not acceptable, and that their states can’t handle that kind of inflow.”

Adams on Sunday said it was “really unfortunate” that a country known for its humanitarian actions was behaving like this. “This is a blight on our entire country,” he said.

The mayor said that he’s spoken to leaders in DC to discuss immigration reform, pressing on the importance of allowing new arrivals to be able to work in the US.

“I don’t think it’s really logical to allow people to be here for months without the ability to seek employment, particularly during a time when we are seeking employees on various sectors in our city,” he said.

Adams also said he plans on changing certain policies in the city’s “Right-to-Shelter” law to better respond to the situation.

“I’m sure 40 years ago, when this law was put into place, no one thought that we would receive 11,000 migrants or asylum seekers,” he said.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, another critic of the GOP governors, insisted Sunday that the immigration system must be addressed, even if it is a difficult issue for Democrats as the midterms loom.

The Illinois Democrat acknowledged on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “there is political danger” for Democrats in discussing immigration but said it was not an impossible issue to solve.

“All of these things can be done. Are they controversial? You bet. Some of them are very controversial, but we know we need to do it,” he said.

Cuellar said on CBS that the Biden administration should enforce Obama-era immigration laws. He praised former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, who he said “did it the right way. He treated people with dignity, but he returned people and he showed images of people being returned.”

On Saturday, Attorney General Merrick Garland took part in a swearing-in ceremony for new US citizens on Ellis Island in New York Harbor.

Garland didn’t address the current partisan conflict over the migrants crisis in his remarks, but he acknowledged the polarization in the country.

“The responsibility to ensure the rule of law is and has been the duty of every generation in our country’s history. It is now your duty as well. And it is one that is especially urgent today at a time of intense polarization in America,” Garland told the new citizens.

“Overcoming the current polarization in our public life is, and will continue to be, a difficult task,” he added.

Garland also stressed the protection provided by the US to those fleeing persecution. Many migrants crossing the US-Mexico border are seeking asylum – in some cases from political persecution.

“That protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries. The protection of law – the rule of law – is the foundation of our system of government,” Garland said.

This story and headline have been updated.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sends migrant buses to Chicago

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday night that immigrants will be bussed from the Lonestar State to Chicago in the latest iteration of his controversial bussing program.

The first busload of immigrants arrived at Chicago’s Union Station Wednesday night as the Windy City becomes the third destination city for asylum-seeking immigrants who are being bussed from Del Rio, Texas, Abbott’s office said.

He has already sent migrants to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

“To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location,” said Abbott.

“Mayor Lightfoot loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status, and I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city with the capacity to serve them.” 

In April, Abbott started bussing immigrants from the border to Washington, D.C. Immigrants started arriving in New York City in June.

Migrants wait outside in Chicago after being bused from Texas under Governor Greg Abbott.
CBS News Chicago
Abbott has previously sent migrants to DC and New York City.
Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Abbott’s bus program, which uses both taxpayer money and private donations, has racked up a price tag of $12 million, or about $1,300 per immigrant bused to the east coast so far.

The immigrants who are part of Abbott’s program are not illegal immigrants. They have cleared the first step of seeking asylum and have been granted legal permission to remain in the country while the federal government decides if they qualify for asylum or not.

The Post traveled to the US-Mexico border to witness first-hand how asylum-seekers from countries like Venezuela and Cuba board the buses in Del Rio, Texas after being screened by federal immigration authorities.

The first busload of immigrants arrived at Chicago’s Union Station Wednesday.
Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images

The governor’s office has maintained that the bus program is voluntary and that immigrants can get off the bus anytime they want, however, immigrants aboard a Texas to Big Apple bus called 911 after they say they weren’t allowed to get off the bus in Tennessee.

The Post obtained the 911 recording where immigrants told authorities they were being “held against their will.”

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NYC yet to open promised intake center, ‘migrant-only’ shelters

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Overwhelmed city officials are struggling to provide a promised intake center and hotel rooms to migrants being shipped by the busload from Texas to the Big Apple, The Post has learned.

The Department of Homeless Services acknowledged to The Post that it has abandoned its initial plan to operate an intake and processing center dedicated to the recent arrivals alongside a 600-room shelter at the ROW NYC hotel on Eighth Avenue in Midtown.

Officials would only say Sunday that they have finally selected a finalist to operate the-yet-to-open Manhattan facility but would not reveal the contractor’s name or its location.

City officials have failed to open the shelter and intake center for recently arrived migrants that was planned to be up and running by Aug. 15.
Seth Gottfried
According to the Department of Homeless Services, the plan to operate an intake and processing center for migrants at the ROW NYC hotel has been abandoned.
Matthew McDermott

Contracting documents obtained by The Post show that officials had hoped to have the Midtown shelter and intake up and running as soon as Aug. 15 — now 13 days ago.

DHS also admitted that it has yet to select and rent any of the 5,000 hotel rooms the agency said it is seeking to house migrants across the city.

Instead, officials are continuing to co-mingle migrants with New Yorkers in the city’s existing shelter system — which now includes 15 “emergency” hotel facilities to also help handle a summer population surge, according to the DSS on Friday.

Migrants wait to be loaded onto a bus to be moved to a shelter in Brooklyn on Aug. 11.
Polaris

City Hall has refused to say how much the city is spending on housing migrants in the homeless-system hotels, but a Post analysis found the cost could surpass $300 million.

“We were already facing a crisis of homelessness in New York City when the flow of these migrant families started in earnest,” said Josh Goldfein, a lawyer with the homeless-rights advocacy division at Legal Aid.

“We’ve always had asylum seekers in the New York City shelter system, so that is not new. But obviously, the volume increased.”

Mayor Eric Adams has asked the White House for federal assistance in handling the migrants arriving from the Texas border.
Kevin Sheehan/NY Post

Since May, roughly 6,000 migrants have sought shelter with the city, including many bussed from Texas at the direction of the Long Star State’s Gov. Greg Abbott.

Although Mayor Eric Adams has appealed to the White House for assistance, including for financial resources, he has yet to receive the extra help he requested.

An official with knowledge of the city’s efforts said the Adams administration reached out to the United States Conference of Mayors for assistance, too.

“If [Adams] can’t find a place for [the migrants] to go, it looks like he can’t manage. Throw it on top of the crime pile, and it looks like he can’t control the city,” longtime political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told The Post on Sunday.

“If Adams has not resolved this by the late fall, he will have a big problem. A failure to resolve this as the weather changes is going to be a real problem for the mayor,” he added.

“It’s a public-relations disaster, and there’s no indication that Abbott is going to stop sending people here.”

DHS spokeswoman Neha Sharma told The Post, “We are working at an extraordinary speed to bring emergency capacity online while doing everything we can to comprehensively address the unique needs of recently-arrived asylum seekers who are coming to us in their greatest hour of need.”

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Hundreds of migrants line up in NYC for healthcare, food, phones

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Hundreds of migrants — at least some bussed to the Big Apple by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — lined up outside Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx on Sunday to get healthcare coverage, food and other items including school supplies and free phones.

The event, organized by the city hospital system, was billed as a “resource and family fun day” for the migrants and their children, many of whom have come to New York City in droves in recent weeks.

“I came to New York about three days ago. I am a welder, and I am looking for work here,” Venezuelan refugee Adrian Medina, 32, said through a translator.

Migrants were provided healthcare coverage, food and other items including school supplies and free phones in the Bronx Sunday.
Tomas E. Gaston

Medina said he arrived on a bus that left Texas five days ago, after a solo trek from his home country that included six days of walking in the jungle.

Now living at Bellevue Men’s Shelter, Medina said he saw a flier for the event there. He was waiting in line for ice cream when he spoke to The Post.

“I’m feeling a little bit better now, but when I first arrived, I wasn’t good, “he said. “We did not sleep or eat well.”

Adrian Medina of Venezuela is living at Bellevue Men’s Shelter.
Tomas E. Gaston
Migrants were also provided library cards and back-to-school supplies for their kids.
Tomas E. Gaston
Many of the migrants were bussed to New York City by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Tomas E. Gaston

A fellow Venezuelan, Luis Quintana, 48, said he came to the event “to get an ID and health insurance” after arriving in the city from Texas on Friday.

“I’m feeling well now, but I wasn’t. I was uncomfortable on the bus. The bathroom on the bus was closed for several hours,” Quintana said.

“I came to New York to get away from the delinquency in Venezuela, cops in the streets, armed people. I want to work and progress.”

A rep for Medicaid provider MetroPlusHealth, which co-sponsored the event, said it expected about 1,200 migrants, mostly children, to attend.

At least some of the migrants had been bussed to New York City by Texas’s Republican governor, who has raged about what he calls Dem President Joe Biden’s out-of-control lax border policies, while also targeting Democratic city mayors.

The migrants crossed the Mexico border into Texas illegally, then said they were seeking asylum, which allows them to legally stay in the US while their cases wind through the courts.

MetroPlusHealth said it was offering at least temporary healthcare coverage for the migrants at Sunday’s event.

The line to get into the event on the hospital’s Great Lawn stretched down the block.

Migrants were also provided library cards and back-to-school supplies for their kids.

A rep for Medicaid provider MetroPlusHealth said it expected about 1,200 migrants to attend the event.
Tomas E. Gaston

City Hall estimates more than 4,000 migrants have arrived in the city in recent weeks.

The city Department of Homeless Services on Friday asked Big Apple hotels to help find 5,000 rooms to house newcomers — on top of a previous request of 600.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, orders troopers, National Guard to deport migrants

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In what he called an “unprecedented action” made necessary because “President Biden refuses to do his job,” Gov. Greg Abbott has issued an executive order authorizing his state’s National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest immigrants who illegally cross the border between ports of entry and return them to Mexico.

“While President Biden refuses to do his job and enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress, the State of Texas is once again stepping up and taking unprecedented action to protect Americans and secure our southern border,” Abbott said in a press release Thursday announcing the zero-tolerance policy.

Only the federal government is legally authorized to enforce immigration law. As legal justification, Abbott cites Article IV, § 4 of the US Constitution.

“[T]he United States . . . shall protect each [State in this Union] against Invasion,’ and thus has forced the State of Texas to build a border wall, deploy state military forces, and enter into agreements as described in Article I, § 10 of the U.S. Constitution to secure the State of Texas and repel the illegal immigration that funds the cartels,” said Abbott in the exectiuve order.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is ordering his state’s National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants.
Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A National Guard member patrols the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas, on May 23, 2022.
Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Legal analysts overwhelmingly believe this is a misinterpretation of the Constitution and will not survive a legal challenge.

“As they say in Texas, this dog won’t hunt. They’re relying on the guarantee clause of Article Four, Section Four, and that deals with an invasion, which is generally interpreted and long interpreted to mean an actual foreign invasion in the form of an army, an organized force,” Jonathan Turley told Fox News Tuesday.

Abbott’s office did not respond to a request for comment from The Post about whether he was bending to pressure by former Trump official Ken Cuccinelli to declare an “invasion” on the border. While Abbott did not issue an invasion declaration, he used the exact language Cuccinelli coached several Texas counties to use in declaring a border “invasion” Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Cuccinelli said he wanted Abbott to declare an invasion and enact a Title 42 style program where immigrants were “repealed at the border” and automatically turned away.

Abbott blasted President Biden for failing to stop thousands of undocumented immigrants from crossing the US border.
SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images

Cuccinelli released a statement Thursday saying Abbott did not go far enough.

“The governor does not appear to formally declare an invasion nor direct the National Guard and Department of Public Safety to remove illegals across the border directly to Mexico. That is critical. Otherwise this is still catch and release,” said Cucinelli and Russ Vought of the Center for Renewing America.

This executive order by Abbott comes as his poll numbers are sinking in the aftermath of a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead and his support for an abortion ban in Texas, according to a new poll of Texas voters. Abbott’s Democratic challenger, Beto O’Rourke, is gaining support and is now six points behind the governor.

“Given the latest poll, it’s no surprise Abbott would want to turn the attention back to border security,” Texas pollster Jim Henson of the Texas Politics Project told The Post Thursday. “Poll after poll shows nothing unifies Republicans like border issues.”

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Children among protesters outside NRA convention as gun reform debate heats up after Texas school shooting

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Three days after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas left 19 children and two adults dead, the National Rifle Association kicked off its annual convention about 280 miles away in Houston.

Facing shrinking membership and revenue and on the heels of a nationwide gun reform debate, keynote speakers such as former President Donald Trump attended the convention that is scheduled to continue through Sunday, according to the NRA’s website.

During the convention, Trump criticized Republicans who decided not to attend after the shooting in Uvalde, saying, “unlike some, I didn’t disappoint you by not showing up.”

He also called the latest push for gun reform a politically-motivated one.

“They want total gun confiscation,” he claimed. “This would be the first step. Once they get the first step, a second, third and fourth. You’ll have a whole different look at the second amendment.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz echoed Trump’s sentiments, saying, “We know that keeping guns away from citizens who follow the law does very little to keep them away from criminals.”

Meanwhile, outside the convention hall, the state’s Democratic leaders, in addition to protesters that included children, expressed outrage about the NRA convention’s attendees. 

A young girl holds a sign during a protest outside the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston Friday,  Houston, Texas May 27, 2022, as the NRA Convention is held a few days after the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Wally Skalij via Getty


“They prioritize power and profits over lives. I don’t know if you’ll ever find common ground with someone who operates like that,” Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke told CBS News. O’Rourke earlier in the week confronted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott regarding his response to the Uvalde shooting during a press conference.

An activist on Friday night also confronted Cruz at a restaurant in Houston. In video shared on social media, Benjamin Hernandez, a board member of the group Indivisible Houston, asked Cruz why he attended the convention and implored the senator to support “stronger gun laws,” including background checks. Cruz begins to answer several times, but Hernandez talks over him. 

Security quickly intervened and got between the two, as Hernandez repeatedly asked Cruz, “Why does this keep happening?” 

As security removed Hernandez from the restaurant, he yelled at Cruz, “Nineteen children died. That’s on your hands. That is on your hands. Ted Cruz, that’s on your hands!”

Hernandez told CBS News on Saturday that he confronted Cruz because he believes the senator “needs to be held accountable.”

Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee told CBS News that months ahead of the midterm elections, she thinks Washington will not remain divided on gun laws.

“I hope not. I hope my sense of anxiety and my sense of anger does not counter our responsibility of working on compromise and getting it done.”



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US

Texas governor: 15 killed in school shooting; gunman dead

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UVALDE, Texas (AP) — An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, killing 14 children, one teacher and injuring others, Gov. Greg Abbott said, and the gunman was dead.

It was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. grade school since the shocking attack at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, almost a decade ago.

The gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with a handgun and possibly a rifle, Abbott said. Officials have not revealed a motive for the shooting, but Abbott identified him as Salvador Ramos and said he was a resident of the community that’s about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio.

Abbott said the shooter was likely killed by responding officers but that the events were still being investigated. Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Chief of Police Pete Arredondo said at a news conference that the gunman acted alone.

It was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. It occurred four years after a gunman fatally shot 10 people at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area and less than two weeks after a gunman opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 Black shoppers and workers in what officials have described as a hate crime.

”He shot and killed, horrifically, incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher,” said the governor, adding that two officers were shot and wounded but were expected to survive.

It was not immediately clear how many people, in addition to the dead, were wounded, but Arredondo said there were “several injuries.” Earlier, Uvalde Memorial Hospital said 13 children were taken there. Another hospital reported a 66-year-old woman was in critical condition.

Robb Elementary School has an enrollment of just under 600 students, and Arredondo said it serves students in the second, third and fourth grade. He did not provide ages of the children who were shot.

A heavy police presence surrounded the school Tuesday afternoon, with officers in heavy vests diverting traffic and FBI agents coming and going from the building.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the school shooting on Air Force One as he returns from a five-day trip to Asia and would continue to receive updates. Jean-Pierre said Biden will deliver remarks Tuesday evening at the White House.

Uvalde is home to about 16,000 people and is the seat of government for Uvalde County. The town is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the border with Mexico. Robb Elementary is in a mostly residential neighborhood of modest homes.

A Border Patrol agent who was among the first law enforcement officers on scene was shot and wounded by the gunman, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. The agent is hospitalized in good condition, the official said.

The tragedy in Uvalde added to a grim tally of mass shootings in Texas that have been among the deadliest in the U.S. over the past five years. One year before the Santa Fe school shooting in 2018, a gunman at Texas church killed more than two dozen people during a Sunday service in the small town of Sutherland Springs. In 2019, another gunman at a Walmart in El Paso killed 23 people in a racist attack.

The shooting came days before the National Rifle Association annual convention was set to begin in Houston. Abbott and both of Texas’ U.S. senators were among elected Republican officials who were the scheduled speakers at a Friday leadership forum sponsored by the NRA’s lobbying arm.

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Associated Press writers Jake Bleiberg in Dallas, Ben Fox in Washington, Paul J. Weber in Austin and Juan Lozano in Houston contributed to this report.

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Technology

Halo Studio To Help Workers Flee Anti-Trans, Anti-Abortion Laws

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Photo: Certain Affinity

As large areas of the United States grow increasingly hostile toward trans folks and abortion rights, one Texas game studio CEO is promising to assist employees who want to leave the state should it come to that (h/t GamesIndustry.biz).

“As a demonstration of our company values, today I am making this commitment to you,” Certain Affinity CEO Max Hoberman wrote in a letter to his employees. “If the state or province that you live in restricts access to what a majority of medical experts consider essential care, and this makes remaining there untenable for you and your family, we will cover the pre-approved, documented, reasonable out-of-pocket costs of your relocation to another, safer state or province that we operate in.”

Hoberman founded Certain Affinity almost 16 years ago after leaving his position at Bungie as the Halo series’ multiplayer and online lead. Since then, the company has provided support on games like Halo Infinite, Doom (2016), and Left 4 Dead and grown to over 250 workers, many of whom operate out of Certain Affinity’s main offices in Austin. The studio also has an office in Toronto, Ontario as well as employees who work remotely.

Texas is, without a doubt, one of the worst places to be transgender in the United States. The sheer breadth of its historical bigotry is hard to get out in one breath, but some examples include the February 2022 legal opinion by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton that gender-affirming care for trans youth should be considered child abuse under state law and governor Greg Abbott’s subsequent directions asking state agencies to investigate the parents of trans children.

Similarly, the recent leak of a Supreme Court document detailing plans by its conservative judges to overturn the landmark 1973 federal reproductive rights decision Roe v. Wade and return such policy-making to individual states further antagonized Texans who (correctly) believe abortions are a medical necessity. The state government, after slowly chipping away at abortion rights for years, passed a “trigger law” in 2021 that will ban the procedure after 30 days if and when Roe v. Wade is overturned.

In both cases, those who assist people affected by these discriminatory policies in leaving dangerous states may eventually be found criminally liable, something Hoberman also addressed in his company-wide letter.

“Measures are already teed up in several states that will similarly punish family, friends, doctors, and other supporters who come to their aid,” Hoberman wrote. “This is all incredibly concerning on a personal level, and also as a business owner and leader; naked politicization of private health matters is hurting our business in tangible ways, including our ability to recruit staff.”

While game companies releasing statements in support of abortion rights is well and good, this is the kind of movement I like to see from employers in this industry. We need actions rather than thoughts and prayers, and I’m glad that companies like Certain Affinity and Insomniac are putting their money where their mouths are. It’s beyond horrific that we’ve come to this, with already beleaguered Americans unable to rely on a supposedly liberal government to protect them, but at least private citizens are doing what little they can to help.

 



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