White House responds to El Paso mayor over emergency declaration claims
Fox News’ Bill Melugin reports on developments in the controversy surrounding statements from El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser on whether the White House asked him to not declare a state of emergency over the border crisis.
Democrat-run El Paso, Texas, will no longer bus migrants to New York City and Chicago, citing the recently unveiled "decompression strategy" pushed by the White House.
President Biden's administration last week moved to expel incoming Venezuelan immigrants back to Mexico until Title 42, which was first introduced under former President Donald Trump.
Immigration activist groups are expressing their concern with the Biden administration’s announcement that it will start expelling Venezuelans to Mexico using the Title 42 public health order — reducing entry pathways to a limited parole program.
BIDEN ADMIN ANNOUNCES BORDER OP WITH MEXICO, INCREASED REMOVALS OF VENEZUELANS
Venezuelan migrants wait for assistance outside the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid in Mexico City on Thursday. This group of migrants interrupted their trek in Mexico City after the U.S. announced that Venezuelans who walk or swim across the border will be immediately returned to Mexico without the right to seek asylum. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it is launching a new large-scale border enforcement operation with Mexico that includes increased checkpoints, a surge in resources and a crackdown on human smuggling.
The change in policy was noted by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, as New York has been a prominent recipient of overflow immigrants from southern regions, including El Paso.
EL PASO SHELTERS PUSHED TO BRINK BY MIGRANT CRISIS: ‘THERE’S A STORM COMING'
New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends a student screening of "Till" during the 60th New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in New York City on Oct. 3, 2022. (Dominik Bindl/Getty Images)
During a press conference Thursday, Adams repeated his assessment that the influx of illegal immigrants to the city was "unsustainable," but claimed the new Title 42 policies were helping the system normalize.
"Without a doubt it is unsustainable, and I stated that two weeks ago. I called on the president to do a decompression strategy. We believe that strategy is working," Adams said.
DEMOCRAT-RUN EL PASO ESCAPES LIBERAL MAYORS' IRE FOR BUSSING MIGRANTS
President Biden, joined by Secretary of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, speaks at a meeting of the White House Competition Council at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 26, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Adams explained that the rate of migrant arrivals has slowed, just after the city opened an expensive migrant processing center on Randall's Island, and that El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser assured him there would be no more buses from El Paso to New York City.
"We were seeing anywhere from nine to 10 buses in the city. We saw two in the last few days. We received a call from El Paso. The mayor has stated that he would no longer send buses here to New York due to that decompression strategy," Adams said.
Adams went on to thank El Paso and White House officials for their help: "I think the team responded to this crisis and I have to take my hat off to the interagency partnership. We were prepared. We did not panic. And we sent a very clear message of what we needed from the federal government, what we had to do here in the city."
A Customs and Border Protection bus drops off dozens of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, at the migrant welcome center in El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 22, 2022. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News)
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The decision to stop bussing illegal immigrants is an about-face from previous comments from El Paso lawmakers.
Leeser was reportedly considering a declaration of emergency over the uncontrolled influx of migrants. Leeser allegedly told a member of the El Paso City Council in a private conversation that the White House has urged him not to declare a state of emergency.
"He told me the White House asked him not to," Councilmember Claudia Rodriguez told the New York Post.
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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