Democratic mayors in five of the largest U.S. cities are requesting an urgent meeting with President Joe Biden to discuss America’s migrant surge and request billions of dollars in additional funding to deal with the crisis.
The leaders of Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York City say they are experiencing a humanitarian crisis and told the Biden administration in a recent letter that additional action is needed.
“To address this crisis without further delay, we are requesting an urgent meeting with you to directly discuss ways we can work with your administration to avoid large numbers of additional asylum seekers being brought to our cities with little to no coordination, support, or resources,” the mayors wrote in the letter.
More than 10 million illegal aliens have entered the U.S. since Biden took office, straining resources in border states and prompting those governors to begin sending migrants to other parts of the country to relieve the systemic stress.
Border state officials selected cities that, prior to the crisis, embraced the identity of being “sanctuary” jurisdictions that welcomed migrants and would not cooperate with federal authorities attempting to identify or arrest individuals residing illegally.
“While we are greatly appreciative of the additional federal funding proposed, our city budgets and local taxpayers continue to bear the brunt of this ongoing federal crisis. Cities have historically absorbed and integrated new migrants with success, but the challenges brought by the new border arrivals are due not only to the high numbers but also the diversity of nationalities, the large share arriving as families, and the overwhelming number who seek asylum,” the mayors wrote. “Given the impact this crisis has had—and continues to have—on state and local budgets we respectfully advocate for additional funding.”
The mayors told Biden, “We request an appropriation of $5 billion to cover the expenditures our cities have already incurred and to continue serving the growing number of people arriving in our communities.”
The meeting request comes as a migrant caravan with an estimated 7,000 people is heading toward the U.S.
